Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion
by Kagome Mokuba
Summary: While Mokuba's recovering from his cold, Kaiba learns not all loose ends have been taken care of, when he meets himself. Now, Kaiba must return to the other dimension to save Mokuba from Noah. But unknown to him, while he's gone...trouble brews in his own
1. C1 Aiko’s Return and where’s Seto?

_**Title: Seto's Wish Alternate World Conclusion**_

**Author:** Kagome Mokuba & Clarity2199

**RATING:** PG-13

Mokuba A/N: Read the warning below before continuing with this story. It contains important information. 

This is a direct sequel to Seto's wish, it picks up right where Seto's Wish left off.

If you have not read Seto's Wish then odds are you won't understand this story.

Sadly we don't have an editor for the whole story. So if you spot an error be kind and let us know. I have trouble keeping an editor for very long. Something always happens and I have not been able to keep one from beginning to end of any story. So at Clarity's suggestion we're writing off editors all together. But do let us know if you spot an error. If you find a serious error that we missed then PLEASE email Clarity and tell her. See my profile for email. Some of the alternate worlds were edited by yamisgirl. Seto's Wish the original version Kaiba dude 101 a reviewer of it, suggested this story and making it into a series. This is one of a series of stories. If you read the original Seto's Wish but not the revised, then I'd suggest reading the revised version. This story too has undergone major revisions. 

If you have read Seto's Wish then you are already aware that the alternate world cast can be a lot out of character so be aware of that when you read. Don't flame saying the alternate world cast is out of character. It's the way the characters are meant to be.

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**Flamers read my profile! DO NOT REVIEW! There is a place to send your flames too. **

**Warning: DO NOT FLAME ON ANY PAIRINGS! If you do not like the following pairings then skip this story! There are a couple of chapters that wont have warnings before hand. So if you have an objection to any of the following parings then don't read this! Flames will not be tolerated!**

Yaoi (male/male) and Incest (relations between family members) do occur in this story.

**IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN DON'T READ IT!**

There is no excuse for any flame! If you do not like that stuff then you should skip this story all together cause skipping those chapters might make later chapters difficult to understand. Flames on things like that only prove and show that you can't read warnings ahead of time. However do be aware that future stories may refer back to this one.

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**Warning: **Chapters 11, 12, 24 and 43 contain some sexually explicit content. All chapters listed are yaoi. Chapters 24 & 43 contain mild incest. Note there will be chapters with no warnings so readers beware!

**Pairings:**

Seto x Joey Chapters 11, 12, 13, 43

Seto x Mokuba Chapters 24, 43

Seto x Tea Alternate World

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**Other notations: **

Nii-sama means respectful big brother

Onee-chan means big sister. (One of my last editors was saying it was Oni-chan but that means big brother. 2 different manga books say onee-chan and nee-chan both mean big or older sister as well as a form I found that listed Japanese words that also said that was correct.)

Future words or phrases will have a number beside them and then their meaning will be listed at the bottom of the chapter.

Several new Japanese words I've found all come from Tsubasa Chronicle. See youtube for fansubs. It is available in manga Tsubasa - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.

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**Disclaimer: **We do not own yugioh or any of its characters. Aiko's name is from my friend Heartbroken. Angelee (Angie) is my friend Cat's name. She helped to develop her character for the first story and helped with the story itself the first time around and kept me going. So she was put in the story. Tipper is the name of one of my outside cats. I based her personality a little off of my other two inside cats.

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_**C1 Aiko's Return...and where's Seto?**_

Yami had successfully returned Kaiba to his world. From there, Yami stayed and waited for Seto's return. But after a half hour, he was concerned to find that Seto still did not return. "Something's wrong." he muttered to himself, as he got up and finally left the area.

Yami returned to Seto's house, and rang the bell waiting for someone to answer. He could hear his sister's voice, as she ran to the door on the other side.

Angie answered letting Yami in, then looked back outside the door when she noticed Yami came alone. "Hey Yami...where's Seto? Did he go somewhere?" she asked. "I thought he'd still be with you."

Yami looked concerned, as he said, "I need to talk to everyone, immediately. Where are the others?"

"They're upstairs, helping Mokuba get settled in. What's going on, Yami?" Angie asked, now beginning to get concerned, herself.

"Good...they're all together, then. Let's go." he said, not offering her any answers yet.

They headed to the bedroom, where Joey and Tristan were having a pillow fight with each other. Tea was fighting with them to stop, and Mokuba was quietly watching them in amusement. As soon as Yami and Angie came in, Mokuba noticed and ran to her, to huddle around one of her legs.

"Guys, will you cut it out?" Angie snapped. "You're going to scare Mokuba, again!"

"Hey, it's just a house-warming party." Joey chuckled. "Besides, Tristan started it!"

"I did not, you big liar!" Tristan said, and began to whack him with a pillow again.

Yami now snapped, "Enough! There is something important I need to discuss with everyone..."

That stopped them both on the spot, knowing when Yami spoke, it was serious. They calmed down, putting the pillows back, as Joey asked, "Yeah, what's up, Yami? Hey...where's Seto?"

Yami looked down, saying, "I'm afraid he's not here. He hasn't been around for some time, now..."

"What do you mean, he hasn't been around?" Joey asked.

"Yeah." Tristan said. "He was standing right next to you when we left you." Yet, as Tristan said that, Mokuba shook his head no, knowing. Yami caught it, as he did.

"And, where is he, Yami?" Tea asked.

Yami shook his head, "I don't know."

Angie was starting to really worried now, saying, "Yami...please tell us what's going on."

Yami got down on his knees before Mokuba now, and smiled down at him. "You knew it wasn't him either, didn't you? Don't worry, Mokuba...wherever he is, we'll find him."

Mokuba smiled up at him, feeling reassured.

"Uh...hello! Could you like, clue us in about what's going on? Where's Seto?" Tea asked, becoming worried about her boyfriend, no matter how cold he's been to her, lately.

Yami stood again, saying, "Do you all remember a conversation we had, shortly after Seto's accident? It was as if Seto had a total personality change. Even you Tea had claimed that he was not your boyfriend."

"Yeah, I remember that." Tea said. "But, he's been getting better. He told us he was starting to remember things."

"Did he ever tell any of us what those things were?" Yami asked.

Angie shook her head. "No, not really."

Yami explained, "The fact of the matter is, that was not Seto...at least not the Seto that we all know."

Everyone just looked at him in stunned silence. Joey spoke first, saying, "You...sound pretty confident about that."

"Yeah." Angie said. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because he told me." Yami answered.

Tea said, "That can't be! If that wasn't Seto, then who was he really?"

"His name was Seto Kaiba." Yami answered.

"That aint even funny!" Joey spat. "You're trying to say that the dude we been hanging with is related to Noah?"

"Wait...I think he did say something to us like that." Angie said. "But...but, how?"

Yami put his hand up, saying, "Relax...'this' Kaiba is not on Noah's side. Though he didn't explain, I'd have to assume he must have been adopted. The Seto that appeared and helped us save Mokuba and battle Noah was not from this world. Somehow...he had been brought here from some powerful magic in his own world."

"Okay, well...where is he, now?" Joey asked.

Yami answered, "Now, Seto Kaiba has gone back to his world, to be with his own Mokuba."

"His own..." Angie began to say. Then suddenly a light bulb lit in her head, and she said, "That's why he kept saying Mokuba was his brother. In his world, I guess he really is!" She then paused again, saying, "But he also didn't recognize me, at first. Does that mean...I don't exist in his world?"

"I wouldn't say that, Angie. You're probably not his sister in his world, just like Mokuba wasn't originally his brother in this world." Yami then looked down at Mokuba and smiled. "...and he made sure to change that."

"So, where's 'our' Seto, then?" Joey asked.

Yami turned to Joey, saying, "That's where the dilemma is..."

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Kaiba was in the kitchen with his hot coffee and a phone book, stewing over his latest dilemma. "I should have foreseen this problem." he said to himself, in frustration.

Once again, Kaiba was finding himself without a temporary baby-sitter to watch Mokuba. And he could only blame himself for this problem. It was his choosing to wait for Angie to start staying with him and not get her as a baby-sitter, yet. He wanted to make sure she had plenty of time to move, had plenty of time to adjust to her life and have fun with her friends before she would start to live with him.

...the fact of the matter was, he didn't want to rush it because he didn't want to scare her away.

Kaiba knew he was not an easy person to deal with. But he cursed himself for his stupidity, his weakness. By throwing his own personal interest in trying to gain a sister where he didn't have one, he was now having problems with finding someone to watch his brother.

'Shit.' he thought to himself. 'What the hell am I supposed to do, now?' He was supposed to be heading to school by now, and yet another babysitter was found unreliable and couldn't come back. Now, he was desperately looking for another, and at the moment was coming up empty. "At least when Aiko was around, she was someone more reliable...someone I could trust. Maybe I should have asked for her to stick around longer..." 'I wish I did...' he thought, but mentally berated himself for such a thought, afterwards. There was no sense in regret...it would change nothing.

"You called?"

The female voice that replied practically next to his ear, shocked the hell out of him, and Kaiba nearly jumped in his seat as he noticed Aiko was calmly sitting next to him at the table, smiling at him. "Where...how...?" he sputtered out, but shut up quickly...now angry at her for both surprising him, and making himself sound stupid.

He glared at her, snapping, "I don't know how you did that, nor do I care...but don't do it again!"

"Sorry." she smiled at him, "I'm still getting used to these new abilities, myself. Besides, the only reason I am here is because of you. After all...you made another wish."

Kaiba blinked. He did? He then quickly remembered...he was wishing for her, though he didn't outwardly say it, which was even more disturbing. Was her presence now a good thing? Mokuba quickly came to mind, and he decided maybe it was. Offering a smirk, he said, "I didn't know I still had wishes..."

She answered, "Actually, they're no longer wishes I have to offer you. But I still kept an eye on you, and was willing to help you if you needed it."

Why was she keeping an eye on him? Kaiba eyed her suspiciously, "So, what you do want in return for this help?"

"I don't want anything." Aiko blinked.

Kaiba turned away. "Thanks, anyway...but I don't plan on owing a favor to anyone."

"What?" Aiko asked. "No...you don't understand. If anything, I still owe 'you'."

Kaiba turned, listening. Aiko continued. "If it was not for my time with you, I would still be trapped in that box, still being forced to serve Ajin. Because of your intervening, I am free. I could not thank you enough."

Kaiba nodded, accepting that as an answer. She owed him...it must have been why she was still watching him, waiting for a way to repay this 'debt'. That also meant it would be okay to allow her to do a free job for him. At least then, when that debt was paid, she could finally go away. And maybe by then, he'd have Angie to watch Mokuba.

"The task isn't too difficult." Kaiba stated. "I simply need a baby-sitter for Mokuba that I can trust."

Aiko's eyebrow rose. "I thought he had a nanny."

"And I thought you've been keeping an eye on us. I guess you don't know everything." Kaiba smirked back at her. "She was fired...Mokuba didn't like her."

"So, you couldn't find a replacement?" Aiko asked.

"A permanent Nanny...yes. But, she wont be in for a few weeks." Kaiba answered, thinking of Angie.

"Well, why not just stay home with him during that time? I'm sure you'd feel better caring for him, yourself."

Kaiba glared at her. "You really have been away from the real world too long...haven't you? I have school to go to, and a company to run. Someone has to do it...that work just wont get done by itself. Mokuba lives a comfortable life, because 'I' provide for him."

Kaiba now turned away. "If you're trying get out of the job...just say it. I'll find someone else."

"Oh, no...I was simply curious." Aiko stated. "Of course I'll be happy to watch him...I'd love to."

"Good." Kaiba said, closing the phonebook he had open trying to find another sitter. He stood, and finished his coffee, saying, "Then, I have school to go to, now. He's already had breakfast and his medicine, and he seems to be feeling better. He'll need to take some more Tylenol around lunch, depending how he feels. When school is out, I'll be back to check up on you."

Kaiba turned back to Aiko, noticing her staring at him strangely. "Did you understand what I said? Is there a problem?"

"No, just...why do you still go to school?" Aiko asked.

"Why are you still asking me these stupid questions?" Kaiba snapped back.

She turned away, saying, "Sorry."

"Are there any other questions...'relating' to Mokuba?" Kaiba asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Good. Then I'll be home later. If there's an emergency, my cell-phone numbers written on the phone." With all that said, Kaiba was out the door, and heading to school.

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Seto Yagakamiya began to open his eyes from after he felt like he had slept forever. But he found himself dazed and confused, in a place that felt like...nothingness, not even sure who he was at the moment.

'Where am I...?'

Then as he stared, a light opened up for him from somewhere, and he knew that would be his only escape from wherever he was.

'How did I get here?'

Without hesitation, he headed towards the light...escape being the main thought on his mind.

'Where am I going?'

His hand reached out and touched the light. And as he did, he was engulfed in it...

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"Are you sure that wasn't Seto?" Tristan said. "I mean...what did he tell you about him?"

"Yeah, besides acting kinda weird...he sure didn't seem like no Kaiba to me." Joey said.

Tea added, "But it's true, he didn't seem as nice as the Seto I knew. He seemed almost...sadder, and more lonely."

"From what Kaiba said to me, in his world his parents are dead. In fact, Noah and Gozaburo are dead, as well." Yami explained.

"Mom and Dad are dead?" Angie asked.

Joey added, "That would explain why he don't see ya as his sister, Angie...you were originally adopted. If they aren't around..."

"But, if Mokuba's his brother and Gozaburo's family is dead, then who's raising him?" Angie asked.

Yami paused. Kaiba didn't tell him that part, either. "Well, he didn't give me a lot of details. But he did say he had to get back to Mokuba, so obviously they're together. Perhaps, he is raising him..."

"But he's like 'our' age!" Angie exclaimed.

"Being someone's brother 'and' Dad? That would be tough." Tristan said.

Joey said, "Yeah, but what if Tristan's original idea is right, and Seto is just confused and is thinking wrong..."

"I helped him get home, Joey." Yami explained. "He touched the puzzle which sent him back, so I know for sure it's not Seto. I was able the sense the difference in their souls. Plus, he had a card around his neck, which had a picture of his own brother at age five."

"So, that's what that card was?" Angie said.

"Okay...so then that was some other Seto. But, that don't explain where 'our' Seto is." Joey said. He then looked down at Mokuba, hiding behind Angie and went over to him. "Hey, Yami said you knew about this. So, then...where is the Seto we know, huh? Come on, Mokuba...where is he?"

"Stop it, Joey...you're scaring him!" Angie said.

"Huh? I'm only asking him a question..." Joey said, then looked down at him and noticed Mokuba practically cringing behind Angie's leg. "Hey, what's up, kid? It's just me. You're not really afraid of me, are ya? Can't ya answer?"

"That's strange...from Noah's house, he talked all the way back to here. But after that, he's been real quiet." Tristan said. "Is he okay?"

At that point, Yami finally changed back to Yugi, and he replied, "Mokuba probably needs more time to adjust. He's not used to speaking around others. It'll probably take some time before he gets used to talking freely."

"But, he's been a chatter box until he got back here." Joey said. "It aint like we been yelling at him...I don't see the problem. What's so different about before and now?"

"Seto is the difference. Don't you remember? The entire time he spoke, he was with Kaiba." Yugi said.

"That's true...I didn't think of that." Tea said.

Angie looked down sadly at Mokuba, who was still clinging to her leg. Yugi then approached Angie and smiled. "Don't worry, Angie...Mokuba already seems pretty secure around you. Give him some time, and I'm sure he'll be just as close to you as he was with Seto."

Angie lightly brushing a strand of hair from Mokuba's face said, "I hope so." Mokuba looked up at her and smiled.

Joey then turned to Yugi, saying, "Well, Yugi...does Yami have any idea where Seto could be, then?"

Yugi paused, listening to Yami's words to him. He then shook his head. "He said that he and Kaiba both felt that Seto would return, after he was gone. But after Kaiba left, he didn't appear...even after waiting awhile to see if anything changed."

The others looked concerned as Yugi paused again, listening to more words from Yami. "Yami thinks we should look around for him, though. He says just because Kaiba left from that location, it doesn't mean that Seto would re-appear in the same spot...he could be anywhere around here."

"But then, why didn't he call or show up at home?" Angie asked.

Tristan just smiled at that. "We are talking about Seto...the 'normal' Seto. He probably didn't think of it."

"Plus, he doesn't know anything about what's been going on." Tea said. Then another thought hit her. "Oh, gosh. If he was the one originally hit by the car instead of the other one, then maybe he's dazed and confused somewhere...maybe he doesn't remember anything."

"We better start looking for him." Yugi said, with that thought in mind.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get looking!" Joey said.

"Joey's right. My...'our' big brother," Angie corrected herself. Then she reached down grabbing Mokuba's hand that was on her leg. Mokuba stood up and stayed close to her, wrapping his other hand around her arm. "...he's out there somewhere and we have to find him!"

"Then what are we still doing standing around here?" Tea asked.

"Okay...then, let's split up." Yugi said. "Joey, why don't you take the South end of town. Angie...you and Mokuba could try the North end, then Tristan can try to East, while I'll head to the West side."

"All right. Then, let's get moving!" Tristan said.

Everyone left to search out the area assigned, in hopes of locating Seto.


	2. C2 The Search and You’re my friends

A/N: If you're worried about the pairings, don't. You were told in what chapters those occur in, and will be told again when the time comes. I will update this story once a week on the condition that I get at least 1 review. 1 review or more reviews or no new chapter till then! Sorry but there's no reason for so many hits and no reviews. Any questions about the pairings please feel free to ask!

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**_C2 The Search and You're my friends_ **

Joey searched all over his section of the city, trying to find Seto Yagakamiya...but his friend was nowhere in sight. He even asked around at places he would normally go to, and no one seen him.

Getting frustrated, he made a phone call.

"Hello?" Yugi said on the other end.

"Yugi it's me." Joey said.

"Any luck yet?" Yugi asked.

"Naw...'fraid not. I looked and asked around everywhere...there just aint no sign of him. I guess you haven't had much better luck than me, huh?" Joey asked.

"No...nothing." Yugi said.

"Well, have you heard from the others, yet?" Joey asked.

Yugi replied, "Not yet, but I'll call them and see. Either way, why don't we all meet back at Angie's by around 8:00pm, no matter what...okay?"

"Sounds good ta me. But if they heard anything, make sure to call me back." Joey said.

"I will. See ya, Joey." Yugi got off the cell phone, then made his own phone call.

"Hello?"

"Tea, it's Yugi. Joey called and hasn't come up with anything on his end. What about you? Any luck?"

"No, nothing at all. I'm really worried, Yugi. What if we don't find him? What are we gonna do? What if he's in trouble!" Tea began to say.

Yugi replied, "Don't panic, Tea...we have to keep our heads. That won't help Seto at all."

"You're right." Tea said. "I just feel so helpless. And if he isn't found soon, what are we going to tell his parents? They're going to freak if he doesn't come home!"

"I know...and I'm not really sure." Yugi said. "But, don't worry...well find him, Tea. I promise."

"Thanks, Yugi." Tea smiled, thinking, 'I hope so...'

"I'll call Tristan." Yugi added. "Maybe he found something out." They didn't have much hope right now, and that was the best thing Yugi could possibly think of at the moment.

"Okay. If anyone else found something out, make sure to let me know...all right?" Tea asked.

Yugi smiled. "Of course, Tea. Oh! And if we can't find Seto by 8...we're all going to meet at Angie's house. Why don't you call her, and let her know that?"

"Okay. See ya, Yugi."

Yugi next dialed Tristan.

"Hello?"

Yugi answered, "Tristan, it's me...any luck yet?"

"Not yet, but we might have a bigger problem soon. I just ran into a couple people from Noah's fan group, and since we've been asking people about Seto all around town...they got wind of it. I just hope they don't find him before we do." Tristan replied.

'Noah...' Yugi thought.

Yami quickly spoke, That could be trouble, Yugi. After what Noah had lost in that battle with Kaiba, I'm sure he's not going to simply let it go.

So, you think Tristan's right and Seto could be in danger from him? Yugi asked. ...or maybe he's missing because Noah all ready kidnapped him!

Actually...I'm more concerned about Angie and Mokuba. If they know Seto's missing, they can both be prime targets for Noah. Yami replied.

Gee...I didn't think of that. Yugi answered, becoming more concerned.

"Hey, Earth to Yugi...are you there?" Tristan yelled into the phone, after Yugi zoned out.

"Huh? Oh! Sorry, Tristan...it's just that, well...never mind. I gotta go! Oh, and meet us at Angie's by 8!" Yugi said.

"Oka---..." Tristan began to say, but Yugi hung up on him too quick, now too worried about Angie and Mokuba.

Yugi quickly called Angie's cell phone, who picked up. "Hi, Yugi!" she said, knowing who it was from the caller ID on her cell phone. "I just heard from Tea, who told me about the meeting place. I can guess Tristan didn't see any sign of him, yet?"

"No...but listen. Why don't you two go back home early, and...we'll meet up with you there?" Yugi asked.

"But...why? We're still looking." Angie said. "If our searching could help locate Seto, we shouldn't give up."

"Angie...Tristan just told us that Noah might have gotten wind that Seto's missing. If that's the case, there's always a chance that he and his men might start looking for Mokuba again, and may even come after you. We want to make sure you're both safe, so please...bring Mokuba back home and we'll meet you there at 8:00, okay?" Yugi suggested.

"Oh...I didn't know. Okay, Yugi...thanks." Angie said.

"And if you run into any trouble, make sure to call us...all right?" Yugi asked.

Angie smiled. "Will do. See ya, Yugi."

After Angie hung up, she had a tug on her shirt, as Mokuba asked, "What's wrong, Onee-chan?" (1)

"Huh?" Angie asked, distracted from the phone call, and looked down at Mokuba. She blinked, realizing he actually spoke to her without Seto around, and said, "Hey...you talked to me!"

Mokuba smiled and nodded.

Angie was so happy to see that. The kid hadn't trusted anyone but Seto. It seemed he was finally starting to accept her as his sister, just as Yami had thought he would eventually do. She squatted down to his level and hugged him, saying, "Thanks for trusting me, Mokuba."

She then moved him back, adding, "Oh! You wanted to get my attention. What did you want, anyway?"

"Well...you looked sad. Is something wrong?" Mokuba asked.

"Oh, well...we need to go home, now. I guess Noah's friends heard that Seto's missing, and Yugi's afraid they might come after you again. They feel it's better we just head home, where it's safe." Angie said. She then smiled, adding, "But don't worry, Mokuba...we could play a game together or something, while we wait for the others."

"Mokie."

"What?" Angie asked.

"Seto calls me Mokie."

"You want me to call you Mokie?" she asked.

Mokuba nodded yes.

Angie smiled. "Okay, Mokie. Now, let's go home."

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The phone rang at the Kaiba mansion. Aiko had to drop everything, step over Mokuba's clothes and dodge the new cat Tipper, before she finally made it and picked up the phone.

"Kaiba residence. May I help you?"

"Took you long enough." Kaiba complained on the other end. "Listen...I'm going to need you to stay and look after Mokuba a little longer. Something came up, and I need to go straight to work. Tell him to take it easy. If he behaves and stays in bed, I'll bring him home something."

"Very well...not a problem." Aiko answered. "Then we'll see you later."

Without another word, Kaiba hung up.

"Who was that?" Mokuba asked from the doorway, as Aiko hung up the phone. She turned to see him out of bed, clinging to the stuffed dragon and his comforter.

"I believe, little one, you're supposed to still be in bed." Aiko said. "That was your brother. He wanted you to know that if you're good and stay in bed, he'll be bringing you a surprise tonight."

"Tonight?" Mokuba asked. "He's coming home late...isn't he?"

Aiko nodded. "I'm afraid so."

Mokuba looked sad for a moment, though not in the least surprised. Then with a sudden change of subject, Mokuba quickly asked, "Then, can I go downstairs and watch TV until he gets home?"

Aiko crossed her arms, stating, "Didn't he just say you have to stay in bed?"

"I know." Mokuba pouted, "But I've been in bed most of the day, all ready...and I'm bored. It'll just be the couch, and I'll still be laying down...just not in bed. Please? I want to see my brother when he gets home!"

How could she argue with that? And Mokuba's child-like charms seemed to work even on her. She nodded, replying, "All right...but do 'not' leave the couch, unless it's to use the restroom. Other than that, you can ask me for what you want and stay put."

"Thanks, Aiko!" Mokuba beamed barely after she spoke, and ran down the hall.

Aiko cried back, "And no running in the halls!" She sighed shaking her head, then smiled. "I don't see how Kaiba ever gets anything past that child. Even sick, he seems to be a ball of energy." She then turned, and headed to Mokuba's room, remembering the dirty clothes on the floor as she thought. 'I just hope Seto doesn't get angry for me letting him stay downstairs. His anger is as great as when he was still the High Priest...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The light surrounded Seto Yagakamiya, and in a flash he was standing in the middle of a very large plush living room. Now that he was out of...whatever that limbo-like world he was in before, he now fully remembered everything.

And yet...he still had no clue where he was, or how he got here.

'What the hell's going on?' he wondered, looking around. Wasn't he outside crossing the street, after an argument with Tea? So, how did he end up here? And where was here?

Seto looked around, and began to absorb what the place reminded him of. 'It looks like...Noah's house.' The only reason he knew that much was because of the times he helped sneak Mokuba back home, after he had visited with him. 'So, then...how did I end up here?'

Just then, a maid walked into the room. She seemed to completely ignore him as she walked passed, as if he wasn't even there.

Seto was tempted to cry out 'hello' to her, but was afraid to. If this was Noah's house, then getting someone's attention is the last thing he'd want to do. 'But why didn't she see me?' he wondered. 'This is too weird. I gotta get out of this place...'

Seto looked around and noticed a large set of double doors, with windows on either side, within view. He assumed it must be the front door, but wasn't sure if anyone would notice him if he tried to leave through the front.

But just then, he heard something quickly and loudly heading towards him, and decided he had little choice. Seto quickly ran to the front door and slipped through just as Mokuba made it to the living room. Never realizing anyone was ever there, he bounced onto the couch and switched on the TV.

Seto was now outside, looking at the huge front yard with the large circular driveway and the perfect hedges...and the massive iron fence that kept the world at bay. 'Yep...definitely Noah's house. How the hell am I going to get through that fence?'

Seto ran all the way over to the fence, and looked it over like it was a massive unsolvable puzzle. People were walking by on the outside sidewalk glancing his way as they passed. And as they did, they all seemed to do a double take, looking at him strangely a second time, before continuing to pass.

He lowered his head, thinking, 'Yeah, laugh it up...so I'm stuck in some rich guy's front yard. Great, next someone's gonna call the cops, thinking I'm breaking and entering...'

Getting frustrated, he pulled on the automatic gates, snapping, "Dammit...open!"

As if the gates obeyed his command, they suddenly began to slide open, causing him to back up and stare. "Oooookay..." he muttered, and cautiously left the fenced areas. Still, people walking by were giving him strange looks. 'What the hell are their problems?' he wondered.

Just then, Seto noticed a familiar group and smiled in delight. It was Yugi and all his friends!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I hate my job!"

Joey was continuing to grumble as he stormed down the sidewalk. People were giving the whole group up-nosed glares, since they were common people walking down a rich neighborhood. But no one paid any heed, too focused on Joey's angst.

"Come on, Joey...calm down. At least you're getting decent money, now." Yugi said.

Angie smiled, "Yeah. You should be lucky you even got a job from Kaiba."

"Lucky?" Joey asked, whirling around at his friends behind him. "That jerk had me spend all day cleaning gum off his precious park seats at Kaiba Land! And when I wasn't doing that, he had me play as his personal janitor boy, taking out the trash and cleaning up toilets! You know how bad the bathrooms are at amusement parks?"

"Is that what that smell is?" Tristan mused.

Joey snapped, "Yeah, laugh it up! Well, I'm gonna go give Kaiba a piece a my mind, and there aint nothing you guys can say to stop me!"

"Hey, guys!"

Joey froze instantly, recognizing that voice. Looking like a frightened deer, he practically squeaked, "That aint who I think it is...is it?"

They all smiled and nodded at him. Tea asked, "Are you sure you want to go and complain to Kaiba, Joey?"

Yugi blinked, looking at him in the distance. "Gee...Kaiba looks awfully cheerful today."

That only seemed to snap Joey out of his frightened moment, and once again get angry. "Of course he's in a good mood! After what he made me do all yesterday and making me wear today, I aint surprised he's happy. He's probably been watching me and laughing about it all day!"

"Oh, yeah...Joey. I'm sure Kaiba has nothing better to do than to spy on you and watch you work." Angie said, rolling her eyes.

"Exactly!" Joey said, taking her sarcasm seriously. "And I'm gonna tell him off, right now!"

During this time, Seto was approaching them while they argued. Joey whirled around coming face to face with him, while pointing an angry accusing finger at him. Yet, as he turned...once again Joey was frozen in his tracks, with his finger pointing and mouth hanging open.

Joey looked up and down Seto, who looked at Joey with a very confused look on his face. Then from Kaiba's face, Joey's eyesight traveled down to his odd T-shirt, then his ripped-up jeans, and finally his very worn looking sneakers. Slowly, his eyes traveled back up to Seto's still confused-looking face.

All the anger drained from Joey, as he instantly collapsed on the ground in a ball of laughter.

"Huh?" Seto asked, looking totally stupefied.

"Wh-what are..." Joey stammered out, in-between uncontrollable giggles. He finally gasped out, "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Uh...clothes." Seto answered. "What are 'you' wearing?"

That seemed to sober Joey up. He was wearing this ridiculously bright blue uniform, with a very bold KC on it, and light blue cap that had in big letters on it spelled 'WAN WAN' (2). He leaped back up, once again pointing at Kaiba. "That's what I came to talk to you about!"

Seto had no idea how they would even know he was in Noah's house in the first place, in order to find him...but he went with the flow. "Okay...so then, talk." But before Joey could speak, Seto added, "And what's that smell?"

Yugi and the rest behind Joey was all ready beginning to snicker, now. Joey snapped, "That's cuz of you and..."

But again Joey was interrupted, this time by Tristan, as he asked Joey, "And why do you have 'Barking Dog' on your hat? Not that it doesn't match with the wearer or anything, but..."

"Oh, ha ha...laugh it up!" Joey said. "The guy there said they ran out of hats, and supposedly the last guy who wore this happened to have that as a name...which I know Kaiba did on purpose!"

At that, Joey turned and glared back at Seto, looking at him strangely, never registering that Joey was referring to him. Joey then glanced back to the others, just incase, and snapped, "So, can I now finally talk here?"

"Be my guest, Wan Wan." Tristan joked, and the others tried not to snicker.

Joey gave them all a nasty glare. Then when he was convinced that they would finally all remain silent and allow him to talk, he whirled around at Seto, pointing his accusing finger at him, and...didn't say a word.

"Well?" Seto asked.

"I, uh...forgot what I was saying, now." Everyone dropped on the ground from the comment.

But Joey quickly recovered, saying, "Oh, yeah! I remember now! I demand better respect than this! I want a different hat, a different uniform, and a different job!"

"So, why are you complaining to me?" Seto asked, confused.

"Cuz you're the head guy, whaddya think?" Joey snarled. He calmed a minute, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I don't wanna even hear the 'ya gotta complain to the chain of command' crap. You got me this job, you can change it!"

'I did?' Seto thought. "I did?" he muttered out loud.

"Duh!" Joey retorted. "And speaking of clothes...what's you're excuse? What's with the 'I'm a poor man' outfit? You trying to fit in the crowd, or is this some way to make fun of me?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Seto asked. He then glanced at Tea and back at Joey. "This has something to do with me and Tea's fight, doesn't it?"

"Fight?" Joey asked.

Tea asked, "Me?" No one understood what Seto meant.

Seto gave a tired sigh, and approached Tea. He looked down at her, saying, "Listen...I'm sorry about the fight, but that doesn't mean you can try and make everyone else gang up on me now about what I'm wearing. What I wear isn't much different than everyone else. Besides, the ripped-up look is in style!"

Tea didn't know what to say. She had no idea what he was talking about.

Tristan finally blurted out, "Dude...are you okay? What are you on?"

"I'm not 'on' anything!" Seto snapped.

Not liking the idea that Kaiba might be getting angry, Yugi quickly stepped forward, saying, "Don't worry, Kaiba...Tristan's just confused. We just don't remember you having an argument with Tea. That's all..."

"...or getting into wearing ripped-up clothes." Tristan added.

"Did you say Kaiba?" Seto suddenly asked. "Why are you calling me Noah's name?"

"Who's Noah?" Angie asked.

Seto looked over at Angie, replying, "What do you mean, 'who's Noah?' Everyone knows who Noah is..."

"I don't." Tristan said.

Tea shrugged, "Neither do I."

Joey smirked, "He one a your rich moochers, Kaiba?"

"I'm not Kaiba!" Seto snapped.

"Yeah..." Joey muttered, sarcastically.

Yugi shrugged, saying, "Well, maybe since Mokuba's been sick, Kaiba...I mean, uh...'this person'." waving Seto's way, but not knowing what to call him, "isn't feeling well, either."

"You know my name's Seto." Seto snapped. He then froze. "Mokuba's sick? When did this happen?"

"Since last week..." Tea said, eyeing him strangely.

Joey added, "Dude...maybe you should go back in your house and lay down."

Seto thought that maybe Joey was right. But then, he realized Joey was pointed towards Noah's house he just came from. "Why are you pointing over there? That's Noah's house."

"Nooo...that's your house." Joey said.

Seto felt like he was in some kind of twilight zone. Nothing made sense to him. He looked over the group, and asked, "Okaaaay...we 'are' friends, right?" making sure there was nothing else confusing about his world.

Joey blinked at that, Tristan and Tea looked shocked, and Angie seemed uncertain. Only Yugi reacted well, who smiled in delight. "Of course you are, Kaiba!...I mean, Seto!"

'Something's wrong.' Yami thought, as he watched from his view, eyeing Seto in suspicion.

"And yet...I live here?" Seto asked, pointing towards the house.

"That's right." Yugi said, politely answering his questions.

Seto glanced at Angie, saying, "Then...you live here too, right?"

"Not for a couple more weeks." Angie replied.

Seto blinked. Now, he was really confused. 'Okay...this has to be a dream.' He gave a fake smile, saying, "Okay. Then, I guess...I'll go back in 'my' house."

"Yeah...you do that." Joey said, looking at him strangely.

Seto turned, heading back towards the house. He stopped, taking a glance back at them, who all gave him the 'thumbs up' encouraging him to continue. For a second, he wondered if this was some kind of gag, but he quickly thought better of it. His friends wouldn't be that mean. No...this had to be a dream. Everything was too strange. So, trusting his friends and not trusting himself at the moment, he turned and went back to the door, going back inside.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

Onee-chan –big or older sister

Wan wan - means 'Barking Dog' in Japanese.

Mokuba A/N: You have to learn something watching Anime and reading manga's. I learned that from watching the fansubbed series Tsubasa Chronicle. For more info see animenewsnetwork(dot)com or read the manga Tsubasa - RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.


	3. C3 Mokie? & You’re not My Brother, Seto!

_**C3 Mokie? & You're not My Brother, Seto!**_

In the Alternate World, Angie and Mokie were heading home.

"So Mokie what did Yami mean when he said that you knew that Seto wasn't our Seto?"

Mokie looked up to Angie. "Mokuba told me."

A sweat dropped from Angie, as she looked at him strangely. "Uh...you told yourself?"

Mokie shook his head and smiled. "I mean Seto's brother Mokuba. Him and I were together for a while. When I first spoke to you it wasn't me...it was him."

Angie looked at him strangely. She then pointed at him, muttering, "There were...2 you's inside of you?"

Mokie nodded and continued. "He told me that he was his brother and not my Seto, but I think I all ready knew that. He wasn't acting the same, and...there was just something about him. He 'felt' different..." Mokie looked confused trying to describe the supposed feeling he got from him. Unable to find a way to explain it any other way, he moved on. "But it didn't matter. Even if it wasn't Seto, it was still him...sorta. He was still Seto, no matter where he came from."

Angie smiled down at him. Mokie then looked up with a similar smile. But his expression quickly changed to horror, and he suddenly pushed Angie into a nearby alley.

"What's wrong, Mokie?" Angie asked, not sure what had just happened.

Mokie pulled her down and covered her mouth, as two guards walked by and stopped just next to the alley.

"That's strange...Master Noah told us that his intelligence reported young Mokuba around this region." a security said, looking around the area. "And I could have sworn I just heard him a moment ago..."

The other guard looked strangely at the first. "That brat doesn't speak."

"Yeah, he does." the first one replied. "When he was younger, he spoke more...but he was punished for it. Master Noah was concerned that someone might ask the brat questions about how he was treated, and wanted to ensure his words could never be used against the Kaiba name."

"Smart move on Master Noah's part." the guard said, without the least concern over any possible harm to Mokuba. "So then, where should we start looking next?"

"We're not far from Pegasus Land. Perhaps they went there."

After they left, Angie carefully took Mokie's hand and walked to the end of the alley. Once there, she looked around then quickly ran to the other corner. They still looked safe from any of Noah's guards, so Angie directed Mokie across the street to the park, finding that a safer way to get home...there were a lot more things to hide in and take cover.

Once she was certain they were safe for the moment, she looked down sadly at Mokie, who was very quiet and fearful again. He had all ready explained to the group how Noah treated Mokuba and kept him from talking. But Angie couldn't really tell the extent of the mental abuse it caused the poor kid, until she saw the way he was reacting now.

Angie turned to him, saying, "Don't be afraid, Mokie...I'll get us both home safe, okay?"

But Mokie didn't want to look up at her, in fear of crying. At the moment, all he could think about was how worthless he was to everyone. And why would Angie want to be near him, anyway? He was only putting her in danger, too. He was nothing...he should probably just go back and face his punishment.

Mokie was starting to tremble, and Angie felt bad for him. She brought him to her and hugged him tight. "Listen, Mokie...I know I'm not as brave or strong as Seto is, but you're still my brother now, and I'm gonna protect you the best I can, all right?"

Mokie was slightly surprised by the embrace, only used to Seto ever being so nice. It helped pull him from his insecurities for the moment, and he looked up at Angie. Then with tears coming to his eyes, he hugged her back, saying, "I'm sorry, Onee-chan!"

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Mokie. It's not your fault that they were so mean to you." Angie said. She then pulled him back for a moment and smiled. "Don't worry...we're going to make it through this together. Okay?"

A smile formed on his teary-eyed face and they hugged again, staying that way until Angie was satisfied that Mokie was calmed down enough to keep going.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seto hesitated at the door, and turned back again to where his friends were smiling, and nodded to him encouragingly. He cleared his throat nervously, and asked, "Are...you sure this is safe?" I certainly hope this is a dream.

Truth be told, Seto was absolutely terrified of Noah. And unlike the Kaiba of this world, Seto's more softer life taught him to always to depend on others. If this wasn't a dream, then trying to face Noah by himself was more like a nightmare.

Joey looked at Seto weird. "Man, you really need some rest, or something."

"Yeah...maybe you've been overworking yourself." Tristan said.

'Work?' Seto thought. 'That's right...Joey said something about me being his boss. I guess I'm some manager in this dream. So, how does that make me have Noah's mansion?' "Man, this is some dream..." he muttered.

Joey overheard, then smiled and pointed, "See? I knew you overworked yourself!" 'I am so going to use this against you later...' Joey quietly thought, still wishing he had a camera or something.

But what if it wasn't a dream, and Noah like...brainwashed them or something? 'My friends would never do anything to hurt me.' he thought. 'I just need a little support...that's all.' "Uh...if you want me to go in there, then you guys don't mind...backing me up, do ya?"

Everyone looked at him strangely. "To go in your own house?" Joey asked.

Angie defended him, saying, "He's not feeling well, guys! Maybe he feels dizzy or something..."

"Thanks, Angie...I knew I could count on you." Seto smiled at her, causing her to blush, and the others to hesitate.

'...and I wish a had a tape recorder, too. Kaiba's being so chummy, maybe I can borrow one from him.' Joey smirked, thinking to himself.

"We'll be happy to help you, Kaiba!" Yugi beamed, as they began to approach him.

"And stop calling me Kaiba." Seto grumbled, sounding like he was pouting. He thought of telling them he was feeling just fine, but if by them thinking he's sick would get them behind him when he rang the doorbell...then so be it. Besides, maybe in this dream he's supposed to be sick, or something.

Seto reached up with a trembling hand and rang the doorbell. Everyone looked at him strangely, as to why he decided to ring the doorbell to his own house.

/Something's very strange./ Yami stated, watching Seto in suspicion.

Then for added support, Seto reached down and grabbed Angie's hand in his.

Angie's eyes instantly became as big as saucers. 'Why is he doing this?' she thought in panic. 'Oh my god, oh my god...he 'does' like me! What do I do?' she thought, turning white. She quickly glanced around, hoping no one noticed, and caught Tea eyeing her strangely.

Quickly, Angie gave Tea a helpless look, pleading to her with her eyes in hopes she'd know what to do. But, Tea just gave an amused 'knowing' look and shrugged, starting to assume the same thing Angie was starting to think...maybe Kaiba has a crush.

Angie then gave Tea a 'you are so dead' death glare at her, only making Tea more amused.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Just then, Aiko answered the door.

"Kaiba...I see you're home early." she said. She then noticed the others around him, and turned to Yugi. "Yugi...what brings you all here?"

'Home?' Seto thought. 'She called me Kaiba, too. This is one weird dream. Wait a minute, who is she? I hope she's not supposed to be my wife or something...'

"Well, Kaiba...I mean Seto, he's a little confused. He doesn't think he lives here." Yugi shrugged.

Joey jumped in and blurted, "Yeah! I think maybe Kaiba's coming down with something, too. He's even dressed weird."

"What the hell is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Seto asked, being defensive once again. But that started to make a little bit of sense, too. If this was a dream and he's rich in his dream, shouldn't his clothes look better? Or at the very least, the people in his dream shouldn't notice such a difference, right? Then again, it's his dream...he should suspect it would be weird.

Aiko turned to Seto, and replied, "That is odd. I just got off the phone with you a few minutes ago, and you said you were heading to Kaiba Corp. You wanted to make sure Mokuba stayed in bed."

"Mokie's here?" Seto asked. "Uh...Noah's not here, is he?"

"...Noah?" Aiko asked.

Joey rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, he's been saying this place belongs to Naoh...whoever he is."

"That's Noah, Joey." Yugi smiled up at him.

Joey shrugged, "Naoh, Noah...whatever!"

"There is no Noah here." Aiko said, shaking her head to Seto.

That seemed to make Seto feel better, and he finally let go of Angie's hand, who rubbed it nervously. Tea snickered, and Angie elbowed her to shut up, feeling rather embarrassed over it.

Aiko seemed to notice too, who raised a skeptical eye at the hand contact, but said nothing as she moved back, saying, "Welcome home, Kaiba. You're brother will be happy to see you."

'Brother?' Seto thought. 'Guess this lady took the Niisama thing to heart.' He stepped inside, hoping the whole thing wasn't some crazy trap, or a great dream of Noah not being here about to turn into a nightmare, where Noah would suddenly spring out to cage and torture him.

Yugi turned to Aiko, asking, "Do you want us to stay and help?"

"No I can handle it." Aiko said, giving another odd look Angie's way.

Joey suddenly blurted out, "By the way, you got a tape recorder or camera laying around, perchance?"

"Come on, Joey..." Tristan said, starting to drag him away.

"Wait a minute! How about a video camera? I can live with that!" Joey cried, as Tristan pulled him from the scene.

A sweat dropped from Yugi, and he turned to Aiko, saying, "Well, just make sure and tell Mokuba we hope he feels better soon."

"I will." Aiko said, looking over at Angie again. "Goodbye."

Angie finally realized the look wasn't a very pleasant one. In fact...if she didn't know any better, she'd swear the woman was possibly jealous. 'Oh, great. Not only does Kaiba have a crush on me, he has some jealous girl working for him here, too...and I gotta live here! What a mess!'

"Hold up!" Joey then blurted, stopping Tristan from pulling him totally out the door. "First, I need to know...what time is it?"

Aiko looked and said, "It's about 4:15. Why?"

"4:15! I gotta go back to work, before I'm late!" Joey said.

"Well...I don't think Kaiba will be too upset if you're late, since you were helping him today." Yugi told him.

Joey pouted, "Knowing my luck, he probably won't even remember." He then turned to Seto, saying, "This talk about the job aint over, Kaiba. Since you're sick, I'm letting you off the hook, this time. But as soon as you're better...it's go time!"

Seto blinked and shrugged at him, not sure what to say...he didn't even know what the job was.

Aiko suddenly blinked at this information. "He gave you a job?" Maybe he was feeling sick.

"Yeah..." Joey smirked, pulling his 'Wan-wan' hat off to brush his hair back. "I was kinda shocked, too. I never thought he'd listen to Angie like that."

Again, Aiko turned and glared at Angie, who felt like she wanted to shrink underneath a table, somewhere. 'Is it my fault he likes me?' she thought.

"Why wouldn't I?" Seto asked. He looked to Angie, and smiled. "If there's anyone I'd listen to, it would be Angie."

'Oh god...someone shoot me, now!' Angie thought.

Everyone stared at Seto for a minute. They looked Angie's way, then back at Kaiba. Suddenly, something seemed to click in both Joey and Tristan's head. Yugi still looked pretty confused, until Tea nudged him and gave Yugi a wink.

Yugi muttered, "Huh? Oh!" Yugi then blushed and smiled, saying, "Yeah, uh...I see what you mean. Well, we should really get going, then."

Tea turned to Angie, saying, "You know, Angie...maybe you should stick around and help Seto out."

"Yeah...we don't mind." Tristan snickered.

"No, that's okay." Angie said curtly. 'You guys are so dead!' she thought, fuming.

Joey now elbowed her, saying, "If you're sure. I mean...we gotta sick patient here. He might need his nurse...I mean baby-sitter to stick around!"

"That's it!" Angie said, and chased the others out the door, as they laughed and ran off.

Seto just blankly watched, having no idea what that was about. "Okay..."

Aiko sighed, and closed the door. She then approached him, noticing without the others around, Kaiba began to act rather nervous again. "Are you feeling okay, Kaiba?"

He looked away, asking, "Why does everyone keep calling me that?"

"Because that's what you insist everyone but Mokuba to call you." she answered simply.

"Listen...I all ready told them I'm not Kaiba! So, stop calling me..."

"Big Brother, you're home!" Mokuba cried, running up and throwing his arms around Seto's waist.

Seto was immediately shocked from Mokuba's openness towards him. Was this the same shy and quiet kid he knew Mokuba as being? He was so...different. But he didn't want to upset him by pushing him away, or asking strange questions. The Mokuba he knew might get freaked out, and would instantly shy away.

'Well...if there's no Noah, then maybe that's why he's so much happier in my dream.' Seto thought.

Mokuba smiled up at him, saying, "I was really good, big brother...so what did you bring me?" Mokuba then blinked, looking at Seto oddly. 'That's strange, he...feels different.'

"Are you sure you deserve it?" Aiko asked, bringing Mokuba's thoughts back to reality. "Your brother said stay in bed, not on the couch."

"You said I could!" Mokuba protested to Aiko.

"That's true. But I'm simply telling you what I was told." Aiko answered.

Mokuba turned back to Seto, asking, "You don't mind...do you Seto?"

'He's speaking so freely.' Seto thought, looking down at Mokuba. 'It's so strange. It's almost like he's not even him. And it's like...something feels different about him. That's weird...'

"You shouldn't bother your brother right now, Mokuba...he's not feeling like himself." Aiko said.

'Maybe that's what I sensed from him.' Mokuba thought. Mokuba then smirked, saying to Seto, "Is that why you're wearing those strange clothes?"

Seto pouted, saying, "There's nothing wrong with my clothes!" 'I wish people would stop saying that! Now, even Mokie's saying it!'

Before he could say more, Aiko ushered Mokuba towards the couch, saying, "And I told you not to be running around. Let's get you back to the couch, for now. You're due for your next dose of medicine."

"Aww...but I wanted to see Seto!" Mokuba said, but going to the couch.

"Don't worry...he's coming." Aiko said, shooting Seto back a smile, as she led him away.

Seto blankly followed, as Aiko got Mokuba to sit and began to get his medicine ready. "Now, get your dragon, and let's take your temperature. Then you can have your medicine."

There was a sudden meowing sound, and Seto glanced over to see a cat looking up at him. Mokuba saw it and immediately said, "I'm sorry, Seto! I know Tipper's supposed to be in her room, but I heard her scratching at the door and when I checked on her she looked so sad and lonely in there, and I wanted to play with her! Please don't be mad!"

'Mokie has a cat?' Now that was really strange. Then again, so was him having a stuffed animal. Noah would never allow pets or anything nice for Mokuba. Maybe this was a dream about what life would be like without Noah in the world. Mokie would be in charge of the mansion, and invite Seto to live with him and make him a Kaiba. But...he kinda missed not having his friends here, and his sister, too.

Mokuba held onto dragon, as Aiko pulled out the thermometer. Mokuba looked up, asking, "Big brother, aren't you going to sit with me?"

'But why would he call me big brother? Why would that change, if it was just a dream of Noah being gone?' Seto thought. 'He always called me Niisama, which still basically means the same...but still, why the change?'

So, Seto sat down next to Mokuba. Aiko began to take his temperature from the new ear devices, as Seto asked, "So, how long have you been like this, Mokie?"

Mokuba immediately whirled his head towards Seto, looking at him like he just grew a second head. "What did you call me?"

"Mokuba! Don't move your head, when I'm taking your temperature!" Aiko ordered.

"Sorry..." Mokuba said, turning back. Staying still, Mokuba replied to Seto, "How long have I been like, what?"

"You know...sick." Seto said.

"You don't remember?" Mokuba asked. "It was last week, when I came to your school to get you."

Seto asked, "But why would you come to my school? And last I knew, you were fine."

"I guess you 'are' feeling sick." Mokuba said. He smiled, saying, "Sorry, big brother. I hope you what you got isn't as bad as when I got it."

"I'm not sick." Seto said. He turned away, saying, "Everything's just so weird. This can't be real...I'm probably just dreaming."

Mokuba giggled, saying, "That's what you get for working at Kaiba Corp for so long."

Seto shook his head. "No way could that be part of my dream...I'd never work for a weapon's company."

"Duh." Mokuba smirked. "No kidding...that's why you changed it to a gaming corporation."

"I did?" Seto smiled. 'Wow...this is some dream. That sounds cool!'

Aiko looked at his temperature, saying, "Good...it's just a little over 100, now. You'll be better, in no time."

"I feel okay, now." Mokuba said, seeing the Tylenol being picked up. "Do I have to take that, still? It doesn't taste good."

Mokuba immediately shied away from the stuff, and snuggled up to Seto. "Seto...do I have to take this stuff? I'm 'really' feeling better now...honest!"

Seto smiled, still a little weirded out about how cozy Mokuba was towards him, as well as how open he was at expressing himself. "Sorry Mokie, but doctor's orders. You really should listen to her...she knows what's best."

Again, Mokuba looked at him strangely from the nickname, though Seto didn't know why. Aiko smiled, saying, "You heard what he said. Now, take your medicine."

Mokuba turned away, and winced as he took the stuff...quickly drinking down the water, afterwards. He then turned back towards Seto, and asked, "So, are you staying here the rest of the day with me, big brother? You're not going back to work, are you?"

"I don't remember even working at this place." Seto shrugged. "But, Mokie...why do you keep calling me big brother? You always called me Niisama."

Mokuba's smile suddenly faded, as he slipped his arm away from him. 'That doesn't sound like a cold, or even amnesia.' Mokuba thought. He was acting weird, and something still felt really wrong. Mokuba moved away, saying, "Yeah, well...you don't even use that name, anymore. Who are you?"

"What? Mokie...I..."

"Don't call me that!" Mokuba snapped, now standing up and moving closer to Aiko.

"Mokuba what's wrong?" Aiko asked, wondering why Mokuba was so upset.

"That's not Seto!" Mokuba insisted. "That's not my brother!"

"Mokuba, why would you say such a thing?" Aiko asked.

"Seto stopped calling me Mokie when I was 5...the day we were adopted!"

"We? But only you were adopted. What does this have to do with me?" Seto asked.

"You see? He doesn't even remember he was adopted!" Mokuba stated. "And he's not even wearing the pendant I gave him!"

"What pendant?" Seto asked.

Mokuba showed off his own card pendant, saying, "This one! See, Aiko? He doesn't even know what it is!"

Seto was completely confused...why was Mokie acting like this? Aiko now approached him, and looked him over. Seto wasn't sure what she was doing, and shied away from her. Suddenly, as if seeing something no one else did, she gasped and moved away in surprise. "You're right, Mokuba...this isn't your brother."

'What did she mean?' he wondered. Suddenly, this dream was turning into a nightmare. He was expecting Noah to jump out any second, and eat his head off.

"See...I told you." Mokuba said. "So then, he's an imposter. We should call security!"

"No." Aiko insisted. "Do not fear, Mokuba...he is no danger to you. Why don't you go upstairs to your room and lay down?"

"Can I sleep in Seto's room?" Mokuba asked, then once again looked at Seto with distrust.

'What does he mean 'my room'?' Seto wondered, trying to keep up with what was going on. Mokuba was looking at him, like he was some kind of alien. 'Call security? What is going on? I wish my friends were here...'

"I have a better idea. Why don't you go upstairs...then you can call Kaiba Corp and ask him, yourself." Aiko told Mokuba.

"Can I?"

"Yes, but you know he's going to be mad that you're not in bed." Aiko told him.

Mokuba gave a mischievous smirk, saying, "Not if I tell him that there's some burglar in the house, trying to pass himself off as him."

"Huh?" Seto asked.

Aiko looked down at Mokuba, saying, "I'd suggest against it, Mokuba. After all, you'd be telling a fib to your brother."

"No I wouldn't! That's the truth!" Mokuba said, then hesitated looking at Seto. "...isn't it?"

But Aiko shook her head no. "Though this is not your Seto...this is Seto." she answered. "I'm not exactly sure how or why, but this Seto was brought here from another dimension, or another world you might say."

Seto and Mokuba both looked wide-eyed, as Seto asked, "Another world?"


	4. C4 Another World?

_**C4 Another World?**_

Kaiba was at his office working...on his newly installed monitor system. After rewinding the pre-recording he had set up, Kaiba hit play to watch in amusement when Joey was working earlier, cleaning the gum off the park benches and silently cursing Kaiba's name.

An evil smirk came to his lips, as he sat back and watched the show. Out of all the different books Kaiba had read on stress relief, watching Joey's misery had to be the most relaxing thing of them all. "I should have done this years ago." Kaiba smiled, so glad that Angie had now convinced him to hire Joey.

...and he was even wearing the hat he had specially made for him.

Kaiba laughed coldly at the picture, probably scaring the secretary outside the door...not used to hearing anything beyond the main doors.

Now less tense, Kaiba was ready to get back to work, with still the view of Joey throwing a fit on the view screen.

After awhile of doing this though, Mokuba once again began to come to mind. Mokuba was feeling better, and Kaiba was glad for that. But he also knew that meant trouble. If Mokuba was getting better, he would no doubt be more difficult for even Aiko to control.

"I better check on him." he decided, turning off the tape and calling home.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile, in the alternate world...Angie had phoned Yugi.

"Hello?"

"Yugi, its Angie."

"Hey, did you guys make it home all right?"

"Well, actually we never made it that far." Angie replied. "We only got as far as Domino Central Park."

"How come?"

"You were right about Noah, Yugi. He's got his goons out searching for Mokuba. We almost ran into them on the way back. But I don't understand, Yugi...what good would it do Noah to take Mokuba back? I mean, my parents have legal custody."

"I don't know, Angie. What I do know is that Noah lost a lot from Seto, and will probably do just about anything to have his revenge. Maybe Noah doesn't plan on trying to keep Mokuba for himself, anymore. It could be much worst. But if Noah gets Mokuba, we may never see him again."

Angie gasped at that, and pulled Mokuba closer. Mokuba wasn't sure what was wrong. But either way, he felt safer in Angie's embrace.

"What am I going to do, Yugi?" Angie asked, more worried than ever.

"Try and stay where you are. I'll call Joey, and we'll get there as soon as we can. I'm not sure what Noah's trying to prove, but we can't take any chances. Just stay where you are, and keep hidden."

"Thanks, Yugi...will do." Angie said. Now all they could do was wait. Once together with her friends, she was sure things would be okay. 'Please get here soon, guys.' she thought.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in Kaiba's world, Seto didn't believe what he's been told.

"What do you mean 'another world'? This is just one big dream!"

"I'm afraid it's real." Aiko said.

"Look...all I know is I had a fight with my girlfriend and…" Seto stopped at Mokuba's giggling. "Just what's so funny?"

"The thought of my big brother with a girlfriend." Mokuba said, trying to cover his mouth to keep from laughing.

"And why is that so funny?" Seto asked.

"He never even has time to play with me, much less have time to have some girlfriend."

Seto opened his mouth to retort, but the phone rang. And before Aiko could reach for it, Mokuba sprang up, saying, "I'll get it!" Mokuba raced to the phone, and immediately picked it up. "Hello, Kaiba residence."

"Mokuba..." Kaiba said, knowing. He knew he wouldn't be in bed. "Why are you answering the phone, instead of being in bed? Do you know what time it is?"

"But, I was tired of staying in bed, Seto!" Mokuba whined. "I was bored, and Aiko said it'd be okay if I stayed on the couch till you came home."

He couldn't blame Aiko for that. She probably had to settle for the couch, just to keep Mokuba from running the halls. "I did tell you to stay in bed...but if you're just on the couch, I suppose it's all right. But, why are you answering the phone?"

"Cuz I knew it would be you!" Mokuba cheerfully replied. "Who else would call over here when you're not home?"

"Fine, but make sure to get some rest. And no candy or sweets." Kaiba chided.

"But, Setooo!" Mokuba whined some more.

"No, Mokuba. Now, get some sleep...and you better not be giving Aiko a hard time." Kaiba told him.

"Okay, big brother. But, can I at least sleep in your bed?"

"I don't know about that." Kaiba said, trying to sound as serious as possible, although he couldn't help it after picturing the last time he stayed in his bed. That time, Mokuba decided to camp out with juice and food, and made a total mess of the place. The maids were not happy. "The last time I trusted you, I couldn't recognize it was even a bed, anymore."

Mokuba looked guilty, also remembering that time. Though Kaiba was able to be more calm about that past incident now, at the time when it happened, he was pissed over the damage Mokuba caused. "I promise I wont do that, this time! Please, Seto? If you say no, then I'm not leaving this couch!"

Kaiba sighed. His brother could be so stubborn, sometimes...almost like himself. "All right. But you better get to sleep. There's a big meeting tomorrow with representatives from China. They want to discuss the opening of another Kaiba Land, but I'm not sure if we're financially prepared for that, yet. If this meeting works out, they may be willing to finance it for us."

Mokuba knew exactly what that meant. "So, how late?"

"...I'll be pretty late." Kaiba admitted. "There's a lot of legalities involved. I'm sorry, kiddo."

Mokuba knew his brother couldn't help it, though he still wished he'd be earlier. But still...there's no sense making his brother feel worst than he probably all ready felt. Changing the subject quickly, Mokuba said, "You're still going to bring that surprise for me, right Seto?"

Kaiba smiled, relieved to have the subject changed. "That's right, but only if you stay in bed and be good."

"I will, big brother...I promise!"

"Okay. Remember what I said...I'll see you later."

Mokuba then glanced at Seto, sitting near him. With a smirk, he stated, "Hey, Seto...I also wanted to tell you that..."

Aiko's eyes widened, and quickly shook her head.

"Tell me what?" Kaiba asked.

With Aiko's pleading eyes silently telling Mokuba no, Mokuba added, "Uh...just...I love you! Bye!"

Kaiba smiled. "You too, kiddo. See you later." and hung up.

After he hung up, Mokuba looked up at Aiko, saying, "How come you didn't want me to tell him?"

"You're brother is obviously busy. He would probably rush home, thinking you were in danger...when you're not. I don't need your brother trying to order his security force to haul him away, when I need the time to figure out how he even got here. This Seto needs to get back to him home." Aiko stated.

Seto scratched his head. "Okay...so you two are saying that you were talking to me on the phone? But it wasn't me, it was some 'other' me? This is way too confusing..."

Mokuba smiled at Seto. "It is kinda strange. And yet...it's kinda neat. Now I have two brothers." At that, Mokuba looked up at Aiko. "If he's another Seto, maybe he can stay a little while."

"Mokuba..." Aiko warned. "One does not play with space and time in that way. There are consequences for such things."

Mokuba looked down, and nodded.

"Now...what did your brother have to say?" Aiko asked.

Mokuba sighed. "He's working late, again. Someone's trying to push the start of another Kaiba Land, and he's not ready yet."

"Don't you mean, Pegasus Land?" Seto asked.

Mokuba turned and looked at him, strangely. "Wow. You really 'aren't' from around here, are you?"

"And what did he say about you staying in his room?" Aiko added.

Mokuba turned back to Aiko, saying, "He said I could, as long as I didn't spill anything in it like last time."

Seto scratched his head. "I still don't get it. How can there be two me's?"

Mokuba rolled his eyes.

Aiko smiled, saying, "I see you still don't fully understand." Then turning to Mokuba, she added, "Mokuba, why don't you take your dragon and go sleep in your brother's room?"

"Why? I want to stay and listen." Mokuba protested, rubbing his eyes as he said so.

Aiko smiled knowingly, and asked him, "Is this before or after you go to sleep?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mokuba said, with a big yawn.

"I bet. Mokuba, you know your medicine makes you sleepy...so upstairs, mister."

"But you and Seto both agreed I could sleep down here." Mokuba argued.

Aiko crossed her arms, saying, "No...your brother told you to go to bed. Besides, he doesn't know about 'him' yet, and I need to figure out how to get him home. Anyway, you need to sleep and our conversation is only going to keep you up. Now, go."

"I'm going, I'm going." Mokuba sulked, heading upstairs to his brother's room.

With Mokuba finally gone, Aiko smiled down at him. "Well, now...I wonder how you ended up here, and so long after Kaiba came back?"

"What do you mean?" Seto asked.

"It's a long story." Aiko said. "Basically, my ex-partner tried to give Mokuba's brother a taste of life with their parents. So, he sent him to your world."

"But, why my world? Where are 'their' parents?" Seto asked.

"They're both dead. They were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba, and that's how they ended up here."

"Seriously?" Seto asked. He looked down, muttering, "Then that's why everyone thinks I'm called Kaiba..."

Seto looked back up at her, asking, "But what about Noah? Why doesn't anyone know him?"

"Because the original heir to Gozaburo in this world was struck by a car and killed, before they were adopted." Aiko explained.

"Oh." Seto said, absorbing the info. "I see..." Should he feel bad? One's supposed to respect the dead. But then...this was Noah they were talking about. Part of him actually wanted to feel happy about it, but didn't think that would be right.

"Now this won't be easy to explain but somehow you got stuck between worlds. You were placed in limbo while Kaiba borrowed your life. However, for some reason you couldn't or didn't return to your world, though I don't know why. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that someone from your world helped him get back here."

"It was Yami, wasn't it?" Seto said with confidence. "If anyone could understand any of this, it would be him." Then a thought hit his mind, and he said, "Wait a minute! If Yami got him back here, then he should have no trouble getting me back, too!"

"Well...I can't really be sure how he got back. He never actually told me. Of course, only one with great power would have the ability to get him back here..." Aiko muttered, thinking if it was the Pharaoh who did it, or not.

"It had to be Yami!" Seto said.

Still thinking out loud to herself, she continued, totally ignoring Seto. "I suppose there would be a strong possibility that it was him. It might also explain why you didn't return to your world, when Kaiba returned here. After all, any difference or change in transportation could have greatly different affects with the seems of the various dimensions. They are quite delicate, after all. At this time, I'm not even sure that I can get you back. Though I know the world you came from, getting you there is still an entirely different story, indeed..."

"But, why?" Seto asked. "What's the problem?"

Aiko finally turned her attention back to him. "Oh, well...the problem is it was my ex-partner that sent Kaiba to that world, not I. I was able to get there once, but only because I was able to trace the other through the tie they had between their lockets, at the time. And with him no longer there, the possibilities on where you're from are nearly endless. Basically, it's not going to be easy to find it without the connection that I could trace before."

"So...I can never get back?" Seto said.

Aiko sighed. "Well...I suppose I might be able to narrow it down to the general area in which you came from, but..."

"So, then...what are we waiting for?" Seto jumped up, impatiently. "Let's get going!"


	5. C5 Protect Mokie!

_**C5 Protect Mokie!**_

In the alternate world, Angie was holding Mokie close to her, while staying hidden behind a bush.

"What are we waiting for, onee-chan?" Mokie asked.

"We're just waiting for Yugi and Joey. Don't worry...they'll be coming soon. Once the others are here, they'll make sure Noah's goons can't hurt us." Angie explained.

"How touching..." a more crueler voice snapped at them.

Angie and Mokuba both whirled around to face the other side of the bush...it was Noah. And as they looked to escaped, she realized they were also surrounded by his guards.

He smirked coldly, continuing his taunting. "Too bad...I'm afraid they're too late."

Angie gasped, as Mokie huddled behind her, fearfully. She replied, "Noah! How...how did you find us?"

"It wasn't too difficult." Noah smirked. "One of my guards believed they heard poor Mokuba in this region, so we came to investigate. It's a good thing for me he has someone so simple-minded to try and protect him by staying in the same area...otherwise, we may have never found him."

Angie paled, thinking that her sticking around here might have only helped Noah out, as Noah laughed coldly at them.

But Noah's mood changed quickly, as he glared down at Mokie. "And you, Mokuba...I'm ashamed of you. You know better than to speak. How many times have we been threw this!"

"He doesn't have to listen to you, anymore! He's my brother now, and nothing you can ever say or do will change that!"

"Nothing?" Noah asked, his smiled becoming even colder. "I wouldn't say that. I heard his so-called brother Seto is all ready missing. Who's to say his little adopted brother Mokuba didn't end up the same way?"

"You had something to do with Seto's disappearance, didn't you!" Angie snapped.

"If only..." Noah darkly muttered. He then looked back at Angie, and retorted, "I could care less what happened to that brother of yours. My only interest is taking back what's mine!" As he said that, he looked coldly down at Mokie.

"Sorry to disappoint ya, Noah...but there aint no way we're letting you touch that kid!"

Noah and his guards whirled around to see Joey standing there. Noah was surprised to see her friends had all ready begun to show up, and so soon. "Wheeler...how did you get here?"

Joey replied, "What's important is I'm here to protect my friends...both Angie and Mokuba!"

Mokie looked surprised at that. 'He came to protect me?'

And then, Yugi ran up...joining Joey. "Sorry, Noah...but there's no way we're going to allow you to take Mokuba!"

Noah glared at the two of them, saying, "And what makes you think a loser and a shrimp has any chance against me?" He snapped his fingers, and the guards now surrounded both Yugi and Joey. "I didn't say I intended to ask permission. I'm 'taking' what is mine! And if you're smart, you will not stand in my way!"

Yugi became Yami, and stood firm with Joey...prepared to fight them if they had to. Yami dramatically pointed a finger towards Noah, stating, "You may have kept us quiet in the past with your threats and blackmail, Noah...but no more! We will defend Seto and his family, and stand by their side. You will no longer bully anyone, as long we have something to say about it!"

Mokie clung tightly to Angie's arm, fearfully. He wished he could be as strong as the braver and more normal Mokuba, that was inside him for a time. But he lacked the courage. He was equally surprised that Yugi and Joey were willing to stand up to Noah and his scary-looking guards. If only he could be that brave and be worthy of such friendship.

Mokie then looked down, feeling sad. If he stayed and let his friends try and protect him...they were going to get hurt. Maybe he could do the brave thing...the only thing that really made sense. Maybe he should go back to Noah, so no one would get hurt. 'It's all my fault, anyway. They wouldn't be in this situation, if it wasn't for me...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Aiko was quiet for a while, concentrating on Seto. Seto looked rather unnerved, having some strange woman practically meditating over him. He fidgeted multiple times, moving on the couch to try and be more comfortable, crossing his arms, combing back his hair with his fingers, and trying to look at something else.

Finally, he turned and snapped, "Are you done, yet?"

Aiko's eyes slowly fluttered opened, as if she had just pulled her mind back from...somewhere else. "Yes, I think I have a general idea where you should be. But it doesn't help...you can still very easily become lost in a world that is not yours. I'm not entirely certain how to proceed."

"Just, let me go ask Yami! He was here just a while ago...he can't be far. In fact, he's probably heading home. Let me just go over to his house and ask him. Obviously, it's how this 'other' me got back here, so he's gotta be able to get me back to my world!" Seto insisted.

"Perhaps he did, Seto. But you must understand that this world is much different from yours. Yami's powers and abilities may be just as different...it's very risky, at best." Aiko warned him.

"Yeah, well I don't care what you say." Seto said, crossing his arms. "Maybe they 'are' a little different, but they're still my friends and I trust them. I believe in Yami, and I'm sure he can do it. I know it'll work..."

Aiko finally nodded, conceding to Seto's request. "Very well...if you insist on asking Yami, then we'll find out what he can do. But we can't allow you to start wandering around in this world. You're friends all ready think there's something wrong with you."

"Well, obviously I'll explain to them what's going on, so they don't think I'm nuts." Seto exclaimed.

"It would be much better if they came here. I should be with you, when you talk to them about this." Aiko stated.

Seto shrugged, "So, then...come with me."

Aiko crossed her arms. "In case you have forgotten...I have a sick little Kaiba brother to be watching over. He is my top priority."

"Oh, yeah...he shouldn't be out in the cold." Seto muttered.

Aiko then turned towards the phone, saying, "I'll call over there, and see if they would be willing to come here."

"Well, of course they would! Why wouldn't they?" Seto asked, confused.

At that Aiko turned and gave an amused smile. "Though they get along well with the younger Kaiba, I'm afraid your other self is not what you would call much of a people person."

"How come?" Seto asked, still not understanding.

Aiko sighed, looking down at him. Kaiba would probably not like her explaining the history of himself to anyone. But then...this was basically him, right? So, wouldn't that be okay? "I'm afraid your other self did not have the best childhood a kid could have. As you're all ready aware now, both the Kaiba brother's parents are dead and they were adopted by Gozaburo Kaiba. Well, Seto Kaiba had a...rough childhood growing under Gozaburo's tutelage."

"What do you mean?" Seto asked.

Did she have to spell out every detail to him? "Gozaburo Kaiba was very abusive, and your other self from this world was raised and taught to trust no one but himself. As far as I know, Mokuba is the only person he trusts completely."

"Wait a minute!" Seto suddenly blurted. "But if my parents are dead, then...where does Angie live?"

"Angie?" Aiko asked. "Why would you ask about her?"

"What do you mean, 'why would I ask'? Cuz she's my sister, of course!" Seto snapped.

"She your si-..." Aiko began to asked surprised. Suddenly, everything added up to Aiko and she offered a slight laugh. To think she actually felt jealousy towards the girl. To think Aiko actually believed Kaiba felt attraction towards the girl. And getting jealous over Kaiba was silly in the first place. He wasn't the priest, he was different. Aiko realized she really had to learn to let that part of her history go.

"And what's so funny about that?" Seto asked.

"I thought she was your...oh, never mind." Aiko said. "In this world, Angie is not your sister. I've only seen her briefly, so I don't exactly know what her life is like in this world."

Seto looked down, surprised by this news. "Oh..." His sister wasn't even his sister. He grew up with her, and in this world she was just a stranger to him. He then looked back up at Aiko, asking, "So, then...Yugi, Joey and everyone else aren't my friends?"

"They try to be. But I'm sure if 'you' were friendly with them, they would be equally friendly to you." Aiko answered, making Seto smile.

Seto then looked down, thinking about what Aiko had roughly said. 'So, in this world...my parents are dead, I have no friends, and I grew up in an abusive family. Wow...what a crappy life.' Seto then thought of another idea hitting him. 'Maybe if he saw what a normal person he could be having friends and those that care about him, it'll cheer him up and make him feel better. He's gotta be pretty depressed...and who better to talk to than himself, right?'

As Seto considered his 'genius' idea, Aiko picked up the phone, saying, "Anyway...I'll call Yugi's house, and see about them coming over."


	6. C6 Noah! and Can Yami get me home?

_**C6 Noah! and Can Yami get me home?**_

Back in the alternate world, Mokie was considering surrendering to Noah in order to save his friends. But he didn't get a chance to make his move.

Yami had given Joey a smirk, which seemed to silently allow Joey to guess what Yami had in mind, without actually saying anything. Yami then loudly cried, "NOW!" and both charged the guards.

Noah and the guards stood in stunned silence, neither of them expecting Joey nor Yami to be so bold...so stupid to charge some of Noah best guards. But it was the surprise of Noah's group that Yami took full advantage of. Before Noah knew what happened, both Yami and Joey ran right passed the guards, grabbing Angie and Mokuba, and cried out, "Run!"

"What?" Noah exclaimed, as he turned to see the group running into the more heavily crowded park. He whirled towards his guards angrily, snapping, "Don't just stand there, you dolts! Get them!"

That snapped the guards out of it quickly, as they rushed after the others.

Yami knew there was no way to over-power the guards, so the next best thing was to outsmart them. He looked around his surroundings and found the best way to give them a slip was to rush into the crowded area, allowing themselves to get buried in the masses of people. It was presently lunch-time and all the workers come out from everywhere to head to lunch...and the park was one of the attractions to either eat there, or pass-by so it was always crowded at this time. Perfect.

Yami lead the way, Joey followed behind dragging Angie, who firmly held Mokie's hand. It was a tough squeeze through the crowds of people, but as long as he held tightly to Angie, he knew he wouldn't get lost. But Mokie could hear the annoying cries of the people behind him from the guards pushing through to get them.

'They'll keep coming...they'll just keep coming. Then my friends and my new family will all become hurt because of me.' Mokie looked up at the hand Angie was grasping on to, knowing if he let go...Angie would not be able to hold on. 'I'll be strong like that other Mokuba...I'll face the danger alone, so they wont be hurt. I'm sorry Angie, I'm sorry Seto...at least I learned what peace was for a short time. It was fun...'

The hand loosened up and slipped from Angie's grasp...the crowds of people swallowing them up, leaving Mokie behind.

It was only moment later that the crowd of people parted to let those behind him through to where Mokie was.

"Well, well, well...hello, Mokuba."

Mokuba looked up and sighed. 'Hi, Noah.' Mokuba thought to himself. He wanted to say it out loud, but knew exactly what would happen if he did. Then again...whether he talked or not, when he got back he knew his punishment was still coming. He dared to talk at all, when Noah had told him not to. Noah knew Mokie had been talking and would make him pay for it.

"You do know what's coming to you for daring to speak...don't you, Mokuba?"

Mokuba sighed and nodded his head yes. It was the same thing for him...more yelling's and beatings. 'I'm sorry Seto, Angie, everyone...I really wanted to be friends and have a real family, but I guess it was never meant to be. Good bye.'

Mokuba then stood beside Noah as always, and followed him with the guards right behind, to ensure Mokuba didn't try to get away.

Noah now turned to them, and snapped, "Track down Mokuba's little friends, and be sure they don't follow us!"

"But, Master Noah...who will guard the boy?"

"Mokuba doesn't need guarding." Noah sneered, and turned to him. "You won't run away...will you, Mokuba?"

Mokuba sighed and shook his head no. 'Why would I? At least staying with you, it ensures my friends will be safe. I wish Seto were here to protect me...but he's gone, now. Maybe he was smart and decided to stay away from me, since I'm so much trouble.'

Mokie could always sense when Seto was near. But now that he could not sense him anymore, Mokie felt even emptier and more alone than ever. He was losing any will left to fight without him here for him. All that was left now was his sealed fate with Noah.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Once they finally got through the crowd, Yami and Joey managed to hook up again. "Where's Angie?" Yami asked.

"I lost her grip, but I know she's right behind me." Joey said and looked to see Angie catching up. "There she is!"

But Angie didn't look happy, and Yami became quickly concerned to see her alone. "Angie...where's Mokuba?"

"I can't find him, guys! Somehow, he slipped out of my grasp while we were running. I tried to stop and look for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere!" Angie said in hysterics. "I lost him...I lost my brother, and it's all my fault!"

Yami turned back towards the crowd, knowing exactly what that meant. "Mokuba...Noah got him."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in Kaiba's world, Aiko called Yugi and explained the situation.

After Yugi was finally done drilling Aiko on all the questions he had, he agreed to be over soon.

It wasn't long at all for Yugi and all the others to show up at the door. Aiko answered it, opening it for them. "Greetings. Please, come in..."

They all approached Seto sitting down, and were looking at him strangely...as if they were staring at a caged monkey.

"What?" Seto asked, not liking the strange stares.

"Nothing!" the said fearfully, quickly assuming he was going to rip their heads off. But when nothing else was said to them, they relaxed.

Yugi gave a slight chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "Gee...he certainly does act different, doesn't he?"

Tristan then approached, asking, "So, you're like...really from another dimension? You look the same. You're just...dressed different."

"And act different." Tea added.

Seto glared. "Why does everyone keep saying the way I dress is weird? It's not that much different than you guys. You got a problem with the band on my T-shirt or something?"

"Band?" Angie asked, really looking at the shirt for the first time. It was a band she didn't even recognize.

"Actually, dude...it's the clothes, themselves. You don't get it, yet. You're filthy rich! You don't wear clothes like us...you wear stuck-up rich clothes!" Tristan exclaimed.

"Tristan..." Tea scolded, finding his comment a bit rude.

"Uh, yeah Kaiba...we're not putting your clothes down. The style's just different." Yugi smiled.

"Really? Gee...what does the guy from this world wear?" Seto asked.

"If we are done questioning clothing styles, maybe we can finally get down to business." Aiko stated, walking into the room.

"Sorry." everyone pretty much muttered.

Seto then looked to Yugi, saying, "Yugi...I need to talk to Yami."

"Uh...okay, sure." Yugi said allowing Yami to take over.

"Seto." Yami nodded. "What do you need?"

"Well...in my world, you have a lot of power inside your puzzle. And when she…" Seto said pointing to Aiko. "Told me that Mokuba's brother was brought back by someone but wasn't sure who, I knew it had to be you! You're the only one I can think of who could do this! I realize that a lot of things in this world are different, but I really have to get home and I was hoping you'd help me!"

Yami considered his words, and nodded. "I understand. You have quite a dilemma, I'm sure...and if I could, I would be more than happy to help you. However, I know little about the full extent of my powers. I fear any attempts made by me would not be able to help. If anything...they could only make matters worst. Sending you on a one-way trip to another dimension, with no way of knowing if you're in your correct world is far too risky. I'm confident that you're in much safer hands with Aiko."

"But Aiko said she can't do it!" Seto exclaimed. "And I trust you, Yami. We're friends, and I know you can do this!"

Yami blinked, definitely not used to someone that looked like Kaiba to speak so highly of him. He gave a slight smile of appreciation, saying, "I appreciate the vote of confidence, which is all the more reason I can't risk this. Please understand...I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I couldn't forgive myself, if my own powers placed you in danger."

Seto got up and approached him, saying, "But nothing bad is going to happen. You are the one that taught me the strength of friendship. As long as we believe in each other, nothing can go wrong."

Everyone's eyes widened at that, including Yami. Was this really Kaiba...from 'any' dimension?

"...don't you believe that, in this world?" Seto asked.

Yami's smile widened, feeling his light cheer from also hearing what Seto had announced. "Thank you. Yes, that belief is equally strong in this world, as well. You must be very close to the Yami in your world." Yami crossed his arms, and thought for a moment. "So, you believe that Yami from your world sent Kaiba back here. But I couldn't imagine him doing so with the same lack of knowledge that I currently have...which would mean only one thing."

Yami then turned back to Seto, stating, "In your world...I have full knowledge of my past, don't I?"

"That's right." Seto answered. "And yes...we're best friends." he added. Then Seto asked, "So, wait...you mean, you don't remember your past yet?"

"No." Yami told him. "I have learned 'some' things...I know I am a Pharaoh from ancient Egypt, but most of my memories and the full extent of my powers still elude me."

"Oh..." Seto said, looking down. "So, then...I guess you can't help me. I'm sorry I bothered you."

"It's no bother at all. In fact, it's quite refreshing to see a version of Kaiba so open and friendly. It gives me hope that maybe someday he will finally open up to us." Yami smiled.

"Doubt it..." Tristan muttered to himself.

Yami ignored it, adding, "But I'm the one who should be sorry. If I knew more about myself, then I may have been able to help you. Unfortunately, that is not the case."

Seto smiled weakly, saying, "I understand. Well, thanks for coming over here to see me."

"It was my pleasure. I hope you make it home." Yami said.

"Thank you." Seto replied. But that didn't help solve anything. If Yami couldn't help and this Aiko couldn't help...then how was he going to make it back home?


	7. C7 A lesson of friendship

_**C7 A lesson of friendship**_

Back in the alternate world, Mokuba sadly followed Noah. He didn't want to go back...he already missed his friends. But for them, he had to do this. There was a time he didn't even know what friendship was, but he had Seto to thank him for teaching him.

"_Hey, kid...it isn't smart walking all alone like that." an older kid said, stepping in front of Mokuba._

_Mokuba looked up frightened, saying nothing and trying to back away...only to be blocked by another kid._

"_What's wrong, kid? Cat got your tongue?" the other laughed, but Mokuba didn't dare speak, knowing his punishment from Noah if he did. He was only 7 then, but he had no escorts because Noah didn't think Mokuba was worthy of wasting his guards on._

"_Freak'n mute." the first kid said. "I guess on the good side, when we kick your ass...no one'll hear you scream." His partner only laughed._

"_Why don't you let him go."_

_They both turned to see another kid show up, which was close to their age. 'Who is he? Why is he here?' Mokuba wondered._

_The two bullies stepped away from Mokuba and faced the stranger. The first one asked, "Who the hell are you? You with him?"_

"_This aint your fight." the second said. "Get out of here while you're still standing, stupid."_

"_The name's Seto, and I'm not going anywhere. Why don't you stop picking on little kids and face someone your own size?" Seto asked._

_The first one grinned, saying, "Maybe your right. And you know what...you're just my size."_

_The two forgot about Mokuba and was now attacking Seto. Mokuba had no idea who this person was, or why he was defending him. He wanted to turn and run, but was too paralyzed with fear and horror, as he watched the two kids practically wipe the floor with him._

_And yet...Seto wouldn't give up. He didn't try to run, he didn't beg them to stop...he kept trying to fight them back, and even got a few good shots at them, too._

_But finally when it was over, Seto was practically unconscious from the beatings he took. Mokuba quickly hid, as the kids wiped the blood from their faces and hands. "Stupid idiot." the first one said. He then turned back to where Mokuba was, saying, "Now it's your turn...hey, where the hell is he? God dammit, the kid's gone!"_

"_Well, no sense sticking around. Let's get out of here before the cops show up."_

_The two bullies took off, and Mokuba finally left his hiding spot and ran towards Seto...the kid who defended him. He placed a trembling hand on his shoulder, asking, "Are...you all right?"_

"_So...you can talk." Seto smiled, and looked up at Mokuba through swollen eyes. He knew who Mokuba was. Everyone knew who he was...he was the muted kid that was always collared next to Noah. Everyone claimed he was retarded. This was the first time Seto actually got near him, without Noah being around._

_Mokuba covered his mouth in horror, begging, "Please don't tell Noah! If he knew I talked, he would punish me!"_

"_I'd never do something like that. Don't worry...your secret's safe with me." Seto answered._

_Mokuba wanted to stay quiet after that, then turn around and leave. But he couldn't...not after what Seto had done for him. No one had ever been so kind to him in his life. He didn't know it was possible for human beings to show kindness like that. "Why?" he asked. "Wh-why did you help me? Why'd you let yourself get hurt for me?"_

"_Because that's what friends do for each other." Seto answered, holding out his hand._

_Mokuba took it, which Seto used to draw Mokuba to him in a hug. "You're safe...that's all that matters."_

_Friendship? Hugs? They were all a first for Mokuba. And he liked them both...things that made him feel warm and good inside. "Thank you." Mokuba smiled. "I like this friendship thing."_

'Seto...will I ever see you again? Noah will never let me leave the mansion again, not after this. I may not even live here, anymore...Noah will probably take me away. Their company is also in many other countries. He might take me somewhere else, to make sure Seto can never get me back. Seto...I just wish I could be able to see you one more time. But maybe it's better this way. None of you...my friends will ever get hurt. And I'm not really worth it, anyway.'

x-x-x-x-x-x

After Yugi and the others left the mansion, a dejected Seto flopped on the couch just as Mokuba came back down stairs.

"Aiko, I'm hungry."

Aiko looked up and walked over to him, then checked his head. "Well, you still feel slightly warm. You can sit next to Seto for now, while I bring you some soup."

"Okay." Mokuba said, sitting next to Seto and grinning at him for some reason.

"Seto, would you also like something to eat?" Aiko asked.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry."

There was silence for a moment, before Seto looked over at him, and asked, "What? Why you smiling at me, like that?"

"You're still here." Mokuba answered. "I was worried that they'd find a way to send you back, by now."

"Well...at least someone's happy about that." Seto sulked.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked. "You sound depressed."

"Of course, I'm depressed...I'm still here!" Seto said.

Mokuba now looked sad. "Don't you like it here? It'll be sad to see you go. I kinda like having another Seto around to play with...even if it's not 'my' Seto."

Seto smiled up at him. "Thanks, I guess your brother works a lot. It must be tough running a big company, like that."

"Yeah." Mokuba said. He then asked, "So, what's the problem? Why can't you get home?"

"You're friend Aiko couldn't do it." Then Seto dropped his head, muttering, "And I asked Yami to get me home, and he said he couldn't, either."

"Uh...who's Yami?" Mokuba asked. "I thought you asked for Yugi and his friends to come over."

"You know, Yami is...wait a minute. How did you know about them coming over? Weren't you in bed?" Seto asked.

Mokuba's eyes widened, guilt reflected across his face. Then with a mischievous smile, he muttered, "Well, I kinda snuck to the railings at the top of the stairs to see what was going on. But don't tell Aiko...she'll get mad!"

Seto smiled. "I wont tell...it'll be our secret." Seto couldn't help but smile. This moment reminded him of when Mokie was so afraid he'd tell someone that he talked, and he promised not to. Strange that thought suddenly hit his mind...maybe there was a part of this Mokuba that wasn't so different from Mokie, after all.

Mokuba then shrugged. "But I couldn't really hear too much, so I came down here. I'm not really that hungry. I'll just eat it slow."

"You're terrible!" Seto snickered. 'God, what a terror this Mokuba was...'

"So, who's Yami?" Mokuba asked.

"Oh, that's right." Seto said. "I keep forgetting that not everyone knows about him in this world. You know the puzzle that Yugi wears around his neck, right? Well, it has an ancient spirit living in it...he calls himself Yami."

"Wow!" Mokuba said. "My Seto hasn't admitted that the other Yugi is real, since Death-T. You actually believe in him. That's so cool!"

"Death-T?" Seto asked.

"Don't worry about it." Mokuba said, quickly skirting the issue. "So, his name's Yami, huh? Well, even though Seto pretends not to believe in him, he still wants to duel him anytime he gets a chance."

Seto smiled, as Mokuba talked. Though there were similarities, he couldn't get over how different the two Mokuba's were. This one might be more active and mischievous, but he was definitely a lot happier. He sighed, saying, "I wish the Mokuba in my world can be as happy as you, someday..."

Mokuba looked at him, strangely. "You talk weird."

"Excuse me?" Seto asked.

"Well...why do you say 'the Mokuba in your world'? Why don't you just say 'your Mokuba'? I mean, it's not like you're talking about a stranger." Mokuba said.

"Yeah, but why would I call him 'mine'? I don't own him." Seto said. Then it clicked. "Oh, wait a minute. That's right...in this world, you two are actual brothers. We're not actually related in my world. I mean...he calls me Niisama, but that's just a figure of speech. We're not really brothers. He's Noah's adopted little brother."

Mokuba looked at him shocked. He then crossed his arms in defiance, saying, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Why doesn't it? Our worlds are totally different." Seto said.

"But we 'have' to be brothers...nothing's 'that' different! Does this Mokuba look different from me?" Mokuba asked.

"Well...his hair's a little shorter. But other than that...no, I'd have to say he looks just like you." Seto said.

"Then, it doesn't make sense." Mokuba protested. "We have to be related!"

"Well, I...I don't know. You're younger than me, so I think I would have known."

"Well...maybe you were separated at the orphanage or something." Mokuba said.

'Uh-oh...how do I explain this one, without hurting the poor kid?' Seto thought.

"What's wrong?" Mokuba asked, noticing the tension in Seto's expression, suddenly.

"Well...the thing is...I-I'm not an orphan. I live with my parents."

Mokuba looked down, understanding. "Oh."

"Sorry...I didn't want to say anything." Seto turned away. "I felt pretty bad when Aiko told me. I couldn't imagine being without parents, like you and your brother did. So, how did your parents die?"

"Mom died when I was born, and Dad died in a car accident when I was three."

"So, you never knew your mother at all." Seto realized.

Mokuba shook his head no. "Seto's always been everything to me...my mother, my father, my big brother and closest friend. He's all I ever had."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As they talked, a limo pulled to through the front gate next to the front door. Seto Kaiba stepped out of the limo, in a normal cool and professional stance, briefcase in his hand. As he calmly left the limo, and security ran up in surprise.

"Is there a problem?" Kaiba asked, not expected to be greeted by a member of his security, unless there was an important matter that needed to be discussed.

"Mister Kaiba!" the man exclaimed. "It's just that...we had all ready assumed you were home."

He looked away, annoyed. "And why would you think that?" he asked, approaching the front door.

"Well, we've...all ready seen you home for the last hour, at least. And a Yugi Motou and his friends came to the house as well, and...it was kind of strange the clothes you were wearing..." the man stuttered out.

Kaiba stopped walking immediately, and glared daggers down at the guard. "Did you say Yugi?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Just then, the echo of a slamming door could be heard reverberating throughout the house.

"Uh-oh..." Mokuba muttered.

Following the door slam, was a yelling voice. "Aiko!" Another loud slam. "Get your magic-wielded ass over here, NOW!"

"Who the hell is that?" Seto asked.

Mokuba began to nervously get up off the couch, saying, "Um...you might want to hide somewhere."

"Why? Who was that?" Seto asked, suddenly worried over Mokuba's safety.

Aiko came from the other room, glaring daggers at Seto. "If you want to stay in this house and have any way of finding your way home, you better be more polite to me and this 'magic wielding ass'...do you understand?"

Mokuba quickly shoved his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing, and snickered out, "Aiko...that wasn't him."

"What?" Aiko asked.

"Aiko! Where the hell are you? You have three minutes to get over here, and explain to me why Motou was IN MY HOUSE!" the voice boomed.

"Oh dear..." Aiko muttered.

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" Seto asked.

"Well, you see...big brother's home." Mokuba sheepishly answered.

And with that said, footsteps approached. An instant later, the second door was slammed opened to reveal the real Seto Kaiba, who glared daggers at Aiko, then turned his total attention at the Seto sitting on the couch.

And Aiko knew...this was not going to be fun.


	8. C8 Seto meets Kaiba

_**C8 Seto meets Kaiba**_

Mokuba gulped. "Um…. hi big brother."

Kaiba glanced over at the oh-so apparent guilty look on his brother's face, then glared back at Seto again, and finally sent daggers at Aiko. When the guard told him he was home all ready, then mentioned Yugi's friends, he assumed his idiot security mistaken him for one of them...and probably needed his eyes examined, as well as his brain for safe measures. But now he found the guard was actually being honest.

Many things clicked through Kaiba's head in that instant, coming up with the best assessment. First thought was this guy was an impostor and a potential threat. But even Aiko wouldn't be incompetent enough to allow anyone dangerous into his household, and leaving Mokuba sitting right next to him, as well. No...there was a much better explanation that came to Kaiba's head. Mokuba had been lonely for his brother, and probably begged Aiko for another version of him for a playmate while he's working. And since Aiko obviously granted Mokuba his wish, Kaiba wasn't happy.

He crossed his arms, snapping at Aiko, "I'm not amused. Mokuba's supposed to be in bed, your not supposed to be practicing voodoo on my brother, Yugi and his friends are NOT permitted in my house, and that 'thing' is not supposed to be here!" His hand was now pointing at Seto, accusing him of being some object.

'That's supposed to be 'me' in this world?.' Seto thought. 'He acts like...like...Noah!'

"Now, Kaiba...just calm down!" Aiko said.

A cruel smirk came to Kaiba's lips, as he hissed, "Calm? Oh, I'm very calm. Would you like to see me when I'm 'not'? I can show you angry, instead...would you prefer that?"

Seto was getting more scared by the minute, and could feel himself sinking further into the couch. Nightmares of Noah's evil were just flooding back to his head. 'This is worst than a nightmare! No, Noah isn't here. In this world...I AM Noah!'

Aiko was frozen on the spot. She too remembered the priest's wrath. No...she didn't want to see angry.

"Seto...it's not Aiko's fault!" Mokuba said, trying to also calm down his brother.

Kaiba's death glare now turned on his brother. "And I thought I told you to stay in bed!"

Mokuba slumped back on the couch. He should have known better than to try and talk to his brother when he was in this mood. "I'm sorry, Seto. I was in bed, but then I got hungry, and I..."

Kaiba ignored the rest, assuming it was yet another excuse Mokuba made just to stay up, knowing full well how Mokuba could be, at times. He was now glaring at this other version of him, dressed in rags that Joey may not even be seen dead in, and was cringing into his expensive couch. The look on Kaiba's face quickly changed to disgust. He sighed, muttering, "Aiko...if you were going to make some kind of 'playmate' for my brother, the least you could have done was make him dress better, and perhaps not have him act like a total idiot. What did you do, grab one of Yugi's moronic friends and make him look like me?"

Everyone froze and stared at Kaiba in shock. Mokuba was quickest to get over it, realizing that once again his brother took the denial route of not seeing what this really was. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to get him to see the truth.

"Playmate?" Aiko asked. "Oh, no...you don't understand. This is..."

"I don't want to hear your lame excuses. Yugi's group is not to be here, and change him back to normal. That's an insult to have him look anything like me!" Kaiba snapped.

"He IS you!" Aiko snapped at him.

Kaiba turned his attention back to Aiko, his expression cold and unwavering...obviously he was not convinced.

Mokuba got up again, saying, "Seto, she's telling the truth. He just kinda showed up, and..."

"And didn't I just tell you to get to bed?" Kaiba snapped, not even looking in Mokuba's direction, this time.

"Why are you yelling at him like that?"

Again the room became instantly quiet, as Kaiba turned to glare once again at the other version of him. He was still looking fearful but pried himself out of the cushions and off the couch, in a lame attempt to look tougher, while trying to defend Mokuba.

That stare from Kaiba unnerved him...forget Noah, Kaiba was even more frightening than him, if it was possible. A stare like that could burrow holes through a person's head. Seto gulped slightly, expecting the guy to explode. But that didn't happen.

A cold sneer came over Kaiba's face, as he muttered, "So, the mouse speaks. You think you can challenge me? Do you honestly believe just because you're wearing my face, that's suppose to make some difference?"

Somewhere in the recesses of Seto's head, he realized that his scare tactics, which were working quite admirably, also totally averted the question he gave him. So, trying not to get caught in the man's overwhelming 'I'll kill you' aura, he stuttered out, "H-he's your brother...isn't he? A-and...the kid's sick. So shouldn't you be a-a little nic-..."

"His sickness is all the more reason for him to be in bed." Kaiba stated flatly. "And how I act or treat my brother is none of your business!"

Seto took a step back, falling back onto the couch, and looking like a fool. But his shock over this other him was too overwhelming to care how he looked. "You...you act nothing like me..."

The smirk widened. "Thank you. And your point being?"

Aiko sighed. "Kaiba...do you remember the alternate world trip you took?"

"How could I forget, and your point?" Kaiba asked, never taking his eyes off Seto, who couldn't believe that this version of him not only acted this cruel and terrible, but the guy actually prided himself in it! 'No...that is NOT me!'

As for Mokuba, he was interested in this little story Aiko began to talk about. 'Seto was in an alternate world?'

"Well...you took over for the Seto's existence in that world for a short time. And...this is the Seto who's place you took." Aiko explained.

Suddenly, the expression changed...and Kaiba's eyes widened, as realization finally began to sink in. He turned and looked at Aiko in surprise, which quickly changed to anger. "And you brought him HERE?"

"No!" Aiko exclaimed, hands up defensively.

Kaiba moved back over to Aiko, once again ignoring Seto...to his relief. "Then what is he doing here?"

"Uh, well...I don't know." she admitted.

"What do mean, 'you don't know'!"

"Well, for some reason or another, when you returned...he didn't. He showed up a little while ago, I'm guessing sometime after you called saying you were going to be running late."

"Please, big brother...don't be mad."

Kaiba sighed, finally letting some of the anger slip, as he rubbed his temples a moment feeling a migraine coming on. He actually got out of work, cutting the meeting a bit shorter than anticipated, and anxious to see his brother and make sure he was fine. Going home was supposed to be a way to relax...so how did his home turn into such a zoo?

More calmer now, he said, "Mokuba, go upstairs...I need to deal with this, right now. And while you at it, get a sweater on. You should be wearing more than that while you're sick...I don't need you getting worst."

"Okay, big brother." Mokuba said, going upstairs.

"You really should be nicer to the kid." Seto said. From Seto's view, he assumed Kaiba was still snapping at Mokuba, not noticing the subtle tone changes that Mokuba noticed, and believed Kaiba was once again lecturing the kid. Plus, he was still trying to get over the shell shock that this person was some alternate version of him.

But the comment was definitely not a smart one...which was too bad. For a moment, Kaiba was actually starting to calm down. He turned back towards Seto, bringing his guard up he almost let drop a moment ago. "I don't care who you're supposed to be...no one tells me how to act around my brother! You've got some nerve criticizing me! Perhaps it's time you turned and looked at yourself. You're so inept, you can't even free your own brother from Noah...allowing him to beat and humiliate you in every game ever designed!"

"Allowing him?" Seto asked. "What are you talking about? I've never 'let' Noah beat me!"

Kaiba paused. He had heard by so many in that world that Seto was crushed by Noah. But after returning to his world and having time to think about it, he decided such a thing was too unbelievable. If the Seto from his world didn't think Mokuba was his true brother, then maybe the whole thing was a sham. After all...he was talking about another version of him. Perhaps Noah convinced him to let himself lose, so that Noah could keep his public image. Maybe while he was in Seto's shoes, there was some underlying threat Noah made to him that he didn't acknowledge because he didn't understand at the time. But, now seeing Seto, he had to ask himself...it was all true? Was this Seto really that worthless and pathetic? 'This person cannot be me. There's no way this guy could have any possibility of becoming me. I'm nothing like him!'

"So, your saying that Noah really did defeat you all those times. How pathetic..." Kaiba stated, in disgust. "I should team you up with the Wheeler in this world. He'd be thrilled to finally be able to beat someone who looks like me, considering he could never normally defeat me."

"Really? You can beat Joey?" Seto asked. "Wow...all my friends always creamed me in that game, too." Seto wondered how this version of him did it...how'd be beat them? They were so tough. Then again, this version of him did run Kaiba Corp and act like Noah. Plus, from what Aiko said...they weren't even friends. He only hoped this version of him didn't bully his friends like Noah did, too...

Kaiba turned away, unable to listen to anymore of this. It was too much. He was half-tempted to call his guards and have the guy shot, just to put him out of his misery. "Forget it. Just don't tell me anymore. You make me sick just looking at you."

But the disgust quickly changed to frustration, then anger that this version of him never bothered to strive for anything in his life...just be some kind of bum, like Joey was. He whirled around towards Seto, and yelled, "How can you even live with yourself, knowing what a loser you are in your brother's eyes? I have lived my entire life being the best for 'my' Mokuba! You can't be me...you're not even a shadow of who I am. If I were in your shoes, I would have never stopped until I would be able to protect him from Noah. You could have at least mustered up enough self-respect in order to be able to beat Noah in 'something'!"

'Mokuba was right...he does call him 'My Mokuba.' Seto thought, remembering what Mokuba said. "But...but I tried..."

"Bullshit! If you tried, then obviously you didn't try hard enough! If you even took the time to look into Mokuba's background, you could have taken him away from there years ago! I was barely there a few weeks, and I was able to find a loop-hole to keep him from Noah!"

"What do mean I could have taken him?" Seto asked.

The anger now calmed and quickly became a cocky smirk, as he muttered. "It's quite simple...something any true genius would have figured out by now. Gozaburo Kaiba is an arrogant bastard that sometimes does things without thinking. He doesn't now and never has had any kind of real custody over Mokuba. If you had ever taken even the slightest bit of time and effort, you would have found that out, yourself!"

x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the alternate world, Yugi called Tristan and Tea and told them that Mokuba was missing and felt Noah was responsible. They agreed to search for Noah, and to meet up at a certain time if no one found anything.

A little while later, Tea spotted Mokuba with Noah and called the others. They all met up in a small alley, just across from Noah's.

"So...he just walked in there with Noah, willingly." Tea said. "There weren't any guards, anywhere. I couldn't understand it, myself. Maybe...Mokuba wants to go back."

"Are you sure about this?" Angie asked. "Noah didn't put his collar on Mokuba, either?"

Tea shook her head. "I didn't see anything on him. Mokuba wasn't fighting Noah, at all."

"I don't get it. Why would Mokuba go back to Noah, like that?" Tristan asked.

"Maybe Noah threatened him." Yugi said.

"Threatened him with what?" Tristan asked. "I don't know about you, Yugi...but if someone threatened to hurt me, I certainly wouldn't follow the guy!"

"I don't mean threatened 'him'...I mean, maybe he threatened us." Yugi said.

"So, then...Mokuba might have gone in there to protect us?" Angie asked, sadly.

Yugi nodded, "It would make sense." Yugi then paused, and answered to himself, "You got a point."

"What?" Tea asked.

Yugi looked at them and smiled. "Sorry. Yami mentioned that for all we know, Noah might even have Seto held captive. We couldn't find him, after all. And if Noah threatened Seto, then Mokuba would definitely make sure nothing happened to him."

"If they got Seto, I'm gonna make that kid pay if it's the last thing I do!" Joey snapped.

"But, what do we do about Mokuba, now? We can't just leave him in there!" Angie said.

"No offense, Angie...but we're running out of options, here." Tristan said.

"No, I won't accept that! Seto freed him, and Mokie was just starting to warm up to me. I can't...no, I 'wont' leave him! He's my brother now...I want to help him!" Angie exclaimed.

"We all do, Angie...but there's not much we can do." Tea said.

"Well, you know...maybe we should keep looking for Seto." Joey said.

Tea asked, "But what if Seto's in there, too?"

Joey shook his head. "I don't think so. Think about it. We didn't have no problems with Noah, until after they found out we were looking for him. If Noah had Seto, then he woulda all ready known and been after Mokuba before we even starting searching."

Yugi changed into Yami. "Good point, Joey. Since there's little we can do here, we should continue our search for Seto. Once he's found, then we will see what we can do about helping Mokuba."

"There has to be something we can do to help him. What if Noah takes off with him, before we find Seto?" Angie said, not wanting to give up getting her new little brother back.

"I know how ya feel, Ang. But Yami is right...the sooner we find Seto, the sooner we can work on a plan." Joey said.

"Besides...knowing Noah, I doubt he's in any rush to move him." Yami stated. "Noah tends to feel quite safe and secure in his home, behind his walls of wealth and power. He probably feels there's nothing we can do, now that Mokuba his with him. I'm sure we have time."

"Yeah." Tristan agreed. "And Seto will know what to do. Besides, he has the paperwork to prove that Mokuba belongs to your parents, now...and we can't do anything without that. He handled Noah once, I'm sure he can handle it again!"

"I hope you're right." Angie said.

"So, let's get going before Noah spots us." Tristan said.

"Where should we go? Should we split up again?" Tea asked.

"No. We should stick together, this time." Joey said. "It'll be safer for all of us, if we aint apart. That way, if Noah's still looking to get us for anything else...we'll be ready for him!"

"That's a good idea." Yugi said, after changing back. "Lets go!"

As the others started to walk away, Angie turned back towards the mansion, thinking, 'We'll be back for you, Mokie...I promise. Even if the others are too afraid to come back, I'll still come and get you! Don't worry about it, little brother...I won't just leave you there!'

Just then, Tea wrapped her arms around Angie's shoulders. "Come on, Angie...let's get going. We'll get him back, don't worry."

Angie just nodded sadly, as Tea led her away.

Yugi watched the scene from the front of the group, and tried to keep a positive attitude...but inside he was equally worried. It was what Tristan said that had him concerned. /Yami...the one that defeated Noah wasn't our Seto, it was Kaiba. Even if we find Seto, what if he doesn't have what it takes to stop Noah? What if he doesn't even have the files that Kaiba did? Maybe Noah erased that information on the computer, and without that hard copy...we have no proof./

/Trust in our friendship, Yugi. One way or another, we will find a way to get Mokuba back./

x-x-x-x-x-x

Inside the house, Noah and Mokuba were in the basement where Noah put on another one of Mokuba's collars and leash, and tied him to a post. Then the phone rang and he got word about the others watching the house.

"So...Mokuba's little friends were watching, were they? Excellent...now that they saw Mokuba come with me willingly, maybe they'll give up and leave us be. Now they fully understand that Mokuba is truly mine! Keep and eye on them to make sure they don't come back, and keep an eye out for Seto. Make sure he never returns!" Noah said, hanging up the phone and laughing.

"Well, Mokuba...it seems your little friends have given up on you. They saw you come with me, and yet they never dared to try and confront us. It shows you just how much they truly care about you, doesn't it?" Noah said, laughing once again.

Just then, the door upstairs opened.

"Noah, get up here. NOW!"

"Coming, father! Now, Mokuba...you be a good little slave dog and wait here for your master. I shall return soon." Noah said, patting Mokuba on the head before going upstairs.

After the door closed, Mokuba sighed...relieved to finally be alone away from Noah, for a moment. Of course, he understood it wouldn't last long. Soon Noah would be back to finally give Mokuba his punishment, for disobeying.

"I hope Seto doesn't get hurt. I couldn't bear to think if Noah and the guards got to him...what they would do." Mokuba muttered. He looked down at the ground, now...depression sinking in, as well as Noah's words. 'Maybe they don't care about me. Maybe they realized what a problem I am, and gave up. It would be better for them, anyway.' A tear fell from his eyes. 'Seto's gone, and Noah doesn't even know where he is. Maybe he too realized I wasn't worth it.'

No. Seto wouldn't think that.

Despite himself falling into depression, Mokuba still felt that Seto would never abandon him, and would do all in his power to get him back.

'But if Seto gets hurt...it'll be all my fault.' And that would be even worst. 'Seto, please don't come for me. Save yourself. I don't want Noah to hurt you, the way he hurt me...'

x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile...upstairs, Noah's father just learned from his lawyers about the adoption. "Noah, I heard about your loss. First you gamble away the kid I gave you as a playmate, and then you're going against your word and snatching him back! Do you know what this kind of publicity could do to the reputation of our company? Do you have any idea how this is going to look in the public eye, once they learn that you agreed to give him up then backed out! There're already rumors beginning, and reporters sniffing around to find out if it's true. This not only makes you look bad, it makes 'me' look bad!"

"Father, please...I'm sorry!"

"That pet of yours is here, isn't he? You dragged him back into my home, despite everything that happened!" Gozaburo snapped.

Noah whined, "But, father...he's my pet!"

"A pet that you lost in a public gambling bet with some nobody. What were you thinking? You shouldn't have lost him in that bet. In fact, you shouldn't have lost in anything! I've told you before, it was dangerous to keep betting that pet of yours...and now look where it's gotten you! Do you realize what a fool that stranger made of the Kaiba name? Not only did you let some punk beat you, but also ended up adopting Mokuba right under your nose! That is leverage that they can use against you, now! And thanks to your stupidity, you no longer have any leverage left to use back against them! As for that pet of yours...I thought you had that thing trained better than that! Not only is it talking to other people, it even tried to abandon you! So, I'm waiting...what do you plan to do about this mess you made?"

"I'm- I'm not sure, father. But how was I one to know after all these years, you never bothered getting custody! I thought you adopted him!"

"Don't you dare try and accuse me of being at fault for your failure! As if I would allow myself to be legally responsible for anything that brat might accidentally say or do. Do you have any idea what would be expected of me, if I signed that paper? So, no...I didn't go for custody. You should have known that. And being that you're my son, I never expected that you would be stupid enough to let someone oppose and defeat you!"

"Father...you're not going to let them take him, are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. No one opposes a Kaiba and gets away with it. But 'your' the one who allowed someone to make a fool of our name. And you're going to take care of this!" Gozaburo snapped, pointing at his son. "I didn't invest the best teachers and scholars in the world for you, just so you can show the world what a failure you are. You're going to find the person that tainted our name and make it right. Do you understand, Noah? Prove to me that I didn't waste all that money on you, for nothing!"

Noah smiled, and bowed. "Yes, father. Don't worry...I will not disappoint you. I'll make you proud."

Noah then turned and left Gozaburo's office. 'Don't think this is over, Seto...not by a long shot. This time, there won't be any cheating from you. I'll make you pay for humiliating me!'


	9. C9 Seto and Kaiba

_**C9 Seto and Kaiba**_

Mokuba came back downstairs in record time, wearing instead one of his brother's sweaters.

"I - I guess I never thought of looking into Mokie's past." Seto said.

Kaiba inwardly flinched, hearing Mokuba's old nickname. The name only reminded him of his past...things he tried very hard not to think of.

"Well, maybe it's not too late!" Mokuba said, joining the conversation. "Maybe you can still help him."

"Mokuba...what in the world are you wearing?" Kaiba suddenly asked, noticing the obvious over-sized sweater he had on.

"...a sweater."

"I meant put on one of 'your' sweaters!" he snapped.

"But..." Mokuba muttered, giving him his patented cry-eyes and lower lip wiggle, looking like he was about to cry. "...I..." he hiccuped. "...I missed you..."

Great. Mokuba was once again on the verge of tears. And as if Kaiba didn't feel like dirt enough from that, Seto was giving him a, 'how dare you do this to your sick brother' look. He was sure that his brother could turn the waters works on and off at the drop of a hat, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty.

Kaiba gave another sigh, which was becoming a habit this night, and muttered, "I'm sorry, kiddo. Look...I'm just in a real lousy mood, tonight. Come here."

Mokuba walked back over to him, dragging his feet...as Kaiba got down on one knee, so they were at eye level. At this level, he could see the tears in Mokuba's eyes, which hurt him even more knowing he was the cause of it. He wiped away the tears and gently kissed his forehead. "I didn't mean to yell at you. Here..." Kaiba said, adjusting the sweater on him, to make sure it was on right. "There...that's better now, isn't it?"

"Thanks, Seto...you're the greatest!" Mokuba sniffed, and hugged him tight...Kaiba still felt like crap for upsetting his brother, especially when he's sick.

Seto just watched the whole scene, totally confused. Was this the same person that just a moment ago was that cruel terrible person that acted just like Noah? It's like the guy just did a total 180, and was nice, now. In fact, this version of Kaiba reminded him more of...himself.

As if that wasn't confusing enough, the same teary-eyed kid now had a mischievous grin on his face as he hugged his brother, and winked at Seto...letting him on to the harmless ruse.

Now totally speechless, Seto just helplessly watched as Kaiba picked up his little brother, and led him to the couch, sitting him gently down on it. And amazingly enough, Mokuba was back to sniffing and looking sad, even a tear escaping his eye as he rubbed it away with the sleeve of his brother's sweater.

"Feel better now?" Kaiba asked.

"Uh-huh..." Mokuba sniffed.

Kaiba reached for the tissue, just in time to catch Tipper running through the room. Didn't he tell Mokuba to lock that thing up? 'God, I hate that cat.' he thought. But keeping focused on his brother, he ignored it for now. Kaiba handed him the tissue and smiled at him, saying, "You're too sensitive when your sick." causing Mokuba to smile back, as he wiped his nose.

When Seto first saw Kaiba, he thought he was anti-Christ. But, who was the one manipulating who, here? He couldn't believe Mokuba was acting so innocent, and yet...

Kaiba turned to Aiko, who calmly watched, and asked, "So, when did Mokuba last have his medicine?"

"Not too long ago, actually. He was hungry though, and I was making him up some soup. He should eat to keep his strength up, after all. It should be done by now...let me go get it." Aiko replied, then turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Soup. Yeah, right...that was another fib that Mokuba told on everyone, which he also admitted to Seto.

"Thanks, Seto...but I hope I can eat it, I'm still not feeling too well. Can you sit with me?" Mokuba pleaded. "Pleeeaaase?"

"Sure." Kaiba said, taking a seat...which Mokuba crawled right on top of, playing the 'I'm such a sick patient'.

Seto couldn't believe it. This was another version of his innocent Mokie? But he was constantly manipulating his brother. The whole 'I'm so sick' thing was probably just an act for Mokuba to get what he wanted, again. Then again...all he seemed to want was affection from his brother. So, was that so bad?

"What are you looking at?"

Seto quickly picked his jaw up off the floor, once he realized he was standing there gawking at the both of them. And all the kindness and softness Kaiba had been showing Mokuba was instantly gone in Kaiba, once again glaring holes into Seto.

...and Seto just didn't get it. He did believe that he was beginning to understand Mokuba. After all, maybe someone as cold as Kaiba needed some manipulating, to get him to open up. But being that Kaiba was supposed to be him, he couldn't understand him at all. Did he have a split-personality? How could he be so cold and cruel one moment, then so warm and kind the next?

So, Seto walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch. Kaiba didn't even like Seto in the same room with him...he 'definitely' didn't like him on the same couch.

But even worst, still...Seto then turned to Kaiba and decided to make probably the stupidest comments he'd come up with, so far. "I just don't get you. I mean...what's with you? One minute, your nice...then you're a total jerk. You got problems!"

"Yes, I do." Kaiba admitted, throwing Seto off-guard.

"Huh?" Seto asked.

Kaiba then smirked, saying, "And hopefully with Aiko's help, you'll be gone soon enough." basically accusing Seto of being the problem.

Seto scowled at that...what a jerk. 'This person is not me!' He didn't like this Kaiba person, even if he was being nice to Mokuba. Maybe it was time he tried to find out why he acted the way he did. "Aiko told me you were abused as a kid...what happened? Is that the reason you act so weird?"

Mokuba froze and looked at Seto...terrified over what he just said, giving him that 'are you crazy?' look of panic.

Kaiba gave Seto a death-glare for daring to comment on his past, and was also thinking how he was going to give Aiko a very harsh and painful death for daring to talk about him. But then, he noticed something...Seto wasn't cringing away from his glare this time, or at least was trying not to. Kaiba instantly calmed, as he thought for a moment that perhaps he actually saw for the first time a spark of himself within Seto. 'Is this a challenge?' Kaiba wondered with interest.

The glare instantly faded, replaced by a total mask that was void of emotion. The only place any hint of emotion resided was in his eyes, which showed a glint of intrigue. "So...Aiko's been talking about me, has she? Well, I'm afraid you're mistaken."

Kaiba looked away, as if he was bored of the subject. "Instead of trying to look into my history, you should first look into the history of the person spreading the gossip. Aiko seems to live in a dream world of her own. She believes she was alive for 5000 years, and thinks I'm a reincarnation of some priest she served, while being a slave in ancient Egypt. Basically...the woman's somewhat obsessed over me, to the point of being delusionary. It's the reason I can so easily call her for baby-sitting service at a moment's notice."

Mokuba was doing all in his power to keep from laughing out loud at his brother's award-winning job of side-stepping the issue, and it worked like a charm. After that story, Seto's head was spinning from everything Kaiba just told him. "Uh...Uh...wait. So what she said..."

"Aiko is simply trying to make-up some ridiculous sob stories, to fulfill some demented fantasy she thought up about me. Anything she says is highly exaggerated. If I were you, I wouldn't take her information too seriously." Kaiba calmly said.

Seto blinked. "Uh...oh." So, then...Kaiba was basically a cold-hearted bastard, for no other reason except maybe...money and power did this to him.

While Mokuba was still trying to control his laugher, Kaiba was thinking what little challenge Seto offered for wits. As for Seto, he was even more confused than ever. During this time, Aiko calmly came back in and placed a tray of soup down for Mokuba.

Once again, focusing only on his brother...Kaiba smiled at him. "Sit up, Mokuba. It's time to eat."

Kaiba then moved Mokuba off his lap so he could eat his soup.

"Kaiba, did you want some food, as well?" Aiko asked.

"No."

She then turned back to Seto, asking, "Are you sure you don't want...is something wrong?"

"Uh...uh..." He looked back over at Kaiba, who gave him an almost evil smirk, then turned back towards Aiko, wondering if maybe Kaiba was lying. "Say, are you from...Egypt?"

Aiko looked over at Kaiba, who glared back at her in defiance...daring her to say something. After all, she's the one that started gossiping about him. Payback's a bitch.

"Well, since you're not even from this world, I suppose it wont hurt anything." Aiko said, giving Kaiba one last glare. "Yes. I was a djinn that was trapped in a magical box for the last 5000 years."

'Holy crap, he's right!' Seto thought. 'Maybe she 'is' delusional. But, wait...wasn't Yami also trapped in a puzzle for 5000 years? So, it can't be that crazy, if one of my closest friends is having the same problem. I wonder if they know each other?' That's when it dawned on him. Kaiba must have used this woman's past to avoid the whole question. He glared at Kaiba, and realized that Kaiba technically had achieved exactly what he wanted. The original subject of the matter had all ready passed.

Aiko left afterwards, leaving the three of them alone, once again. Mokuba quietly ate what he could, then curled up close to his brother, now beginning to look tired.

And Seto decided this would be the best moment to try again in an attempt to learn more about them. "So...do you guys fight a lot? I mean...you know, me and my sister have fights once in awhile."

Kaiba ignored him, as he gently stroked strands of his brother's hair...pretending Seto didn't exist. But the question caught Mokuba's attention. "You have a sister?"

Seto smiled. "I keep forgetting you wouldn't know. Yeah, her name's Angie."

"Angie? You mean, like the new girl who hangs out with Yugi's group?" Mokuba asked, immediately looking back up at his brother, just in-time to catch the wide-eyed look on Kaiba's face.

It didn't take much for Mokuba to put two and two together...he was smarter than most people gave him credit for. Aiko's mentioning that his brother ended up in an alternate universe...Seto's universe. Seto has a sister, and Mokuba's brother had been strangely nice to this new girl, Angie...even going as far as hiring her as a live-in baby-sitter. And with his brother quickly avoiding eye-contact with Mokuba, he knew he was right. Kaiba's time in Seto's world must have gotten him to see her as a sister, too. And Mokuba smirked, knowingly. '...busted!'

Seto missed the entire 2 second exchange of facial expressions between the two Kaiba brothers, simply answering, "Well...yeah. But, I guess in this world...she doesn't know me like a sister."

"Well, who knows? Maybe in this world, eventually she will." Mokuba said, still giving that annoying, 'I know what's going on.' smirk towards his brother.

"Is there a point to any of your stupid questions?" Kaiba suddenly asked, desperately trying to avoid looking at Mokuba, at the moment. 'He just 'had' to bring up his sister...didn't he?'

"Yeah, well I was just wondering..." Seto was saying, but stopped, noticing the way Kaiba was stroking Mokuba's hair. "Say, do you normally do that?"

"Do what?" Kaiba asked.

"What you're doing with his hair..." Seto pointed out.

Kaiba finally looked back over at Mokuba, to see what he meant. After all...he didn't even consciously realize he was doing anything. It was just natural. He then shook his head, muttering, "Nevermind. Obviously, there is no logic to your stupidity."

"What?" Seto asked, wondering what the problem was, now. "I was just asking. I mean...I do that, too. With the 'other' Mokuba." He then looked over at Mokuba, and added, "I mean...'my' Mokuba."

Mokuba smiled at that.

"I don't care 'what' your weird habits are!" Kaiba exclaimed. "I don't want to know anything about you. I want you out of my house, and out of my life!"

"He's not that bad." Mokuba muttered. "Does he have to go so soon?"

Kaiba looked back down at his brother, in surprise. Where did that come from?

Seto stood, snapping, "Well, I don't really care much about you, either. I'm just trying to figure out how someone like me could end up as big a jerk as you!"

He gently slid Mokuba off him, and stood to face Seto down. "Me? You should take my life as a compliment. Once again, you seem to be so good at trying to judge 'my' life, before first looking at your own faults. You're a loser with no life, no aspirations, no self-motivation, and...and look at you! You dress like you just came out of someone else's dumpster!"

"Just because I can't afford to dress in some hundred dollar suit, it does not make me some kind of freak!" Seto snapped.

'Hundred dollar?' Mokuba thought. 'Keep going...'

"Moron...it's not the price, it's the style. You look ridiculous in what you're wearing." Kaiba spat. "You'd be an embarrassment in Yugi's group...and that's low. The least you could do is try and have more self-respect in yourself. And don't forget...I was in your world, and I wouldn't allow myself to be seen dead in the crap you wear. It doesn't take much money to find clothes without so many holes in it that they're falling off of you. I'm surprised your weren't laughed out of school..."

"Well, maybe I just don't like dressing up!" Seto snapped back at him, getting on the defensive, and forgetting what the main topic was about. While, Kaiba placed yet another mental check mark in his mind...he won another round.

"You two might want to keep it down...you're going to wake Mokuba." Aiko said, coming back into the room to see if Mokuba had finished with his soup so she could take the tray back to the kitchen.

Kaiba immediately turned, not expecting to hear that. Sure enough, it looked like Mokuba had drifted and finally started to fall asleep on the couch.

"Sorry." Seto muttered, not expecting him to be sleeping, either.

Kaiba turned to Aiko, quietly asking her, "So, do you have any suggestions on how to get rid of him? I'm getting really sick of seeing him being here."

"Well, there might be a way...but it could be dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Seto asked.

"Scared?" Kaiba taunted.

"Of course not!" Seto said.

Kaiba turned back to Aiko, asking, "So, what's this way of yours?"

"For some reason, even with him here, I can't seem to open a portal...at least, not to his world." Aiko answered.

She then approached Seto, and showed him a golden box with a rainbow colored jewel on it. "My suggestion is you take this box, and try to get there through traveling. It will probably take more than one try to get there. And if you want or need it to, it can become as small as your hand and fit it into your pocket...then back to normal size when you need it again. This cube here on top has a blue colored star to represent this world. There are many other shapes and colors. The problem is finding the right pattern on it to get you where you want to go. Each color and shape represents a different world."

Seto shrugged. "So, what's so hard about that?"

Aiko shook her head, and answered, "Its dangerous, because you never know who or what you'll run into in these worlds."

"There's an added problem." Kaiba warned.

"And what would that be?" Aiko asked.

"More than likely a lot of these worlds will deal with me and Kaiba Corp. He would never be able to handle it."

Seto also feared if he ended up in a world where another Noah might find and torture him. He shook those thoughts away quick. "That wouldn't be so tough." Seto insisted. "I'd just be there long enough to make sure if it's my world or not and just pop back out. Piece of cake."

"No, it's not." Kaiba insisted. "Especially if there are enough similarities that it would take time to know for sure if it's your world or not. And knowing you, you'll end up losing the thing or getting it conned away from you, because you're too clumsy and stupid to handle it."

"No, I'm not!" Seto snapped.

"You couldn't even handle Noah in your world, and ended up constantly being shot down like the loser you are. And he's the least of your problems! Have you ever had to deal with Gozaburo before...ever?" Kaiba asked.

"Uh...no." Seto said. Honestly, he never seen the guy, just heard of him. And from what he heard about the man, he'd never want to.

"So, you end up in a world facing him." Kaiba stated, crossing his arms. "Then after he beats you to death, we'll all know how well you can handle things." Kaiba added, sarcastically.

"I thought you said you were never abused!" Seto snapped.

"I wasn't." Kaiba retorted calmly. "We played a few games...I won."

"Kaiba." Aiko said, trying to wedge herself into the conversation. "Why don't I just grant him your memories. Then he'd know what to do."

Kaiba pointed at Seto, stating, "There is no way this sorry attempt to be me could handle my memories. If you did that, he'd be a vegetable in minutes. And even if he managed to survive the experience...it would only confuse him more."

"Why wouldn't it work? If they're your memories, they should be easy enough to make them 'my' memories." Seto said.

"Because memories and knowledge are two different things." Kaiba answered. "It's one thing to know something, another to actually 'do' it."

Aiko sighed. "I'm afraid he's right, Seto. I could grant them, but as he said...that still wouldn't help you in many situations."

"So then, what do you suggest?" Seto asked.

"Why not try to teach him, Kaiba? Try to help him learn what he needs to know...to be able to handle these other realities."

At this point, Kaiba began to laugh a very cold and almost cackling laugh. "Teach 'him'? Are you insane? You think that I'm suppose to teach this worthless excuse of a human existence how to handle the danger of someone such as Gozaburo, and gain the genius level that I have to handle operating a multi-billion dollar corporation? Sure...maybe I'll just lock him into a room, with an abusive sadomasochistic teacher for the next 7 years. I'm sure he'll be ready by then."

"I 'am' a genius!" Seto protested, ignoring the other comments and assuming it was probably just sick humor on Kaiba's part...never even thinking that he might actually be talking about his own past. Yes, it was mentioned that Kaiba had an abusive past...but no way would it be 'that' bad. The guy was just lying or exaggerating again.

Aiko just stared at Kaiba, realizing the harsh truth to his words...and said nothing.

"Are you, now?" Kaiba asked. "So...you think you'd be able to handle all these other words, as well as Noah himself from your world, such as I did?"

"What?" Seto said, suddenly in a panic. "You're kidding, right? I mean...you didn't actually take Noah on in my world, did you?"

"Is that a problem?" Kaiba asked.

"Of course that's a problem! Noah's insane! He could kill you, and hurt all your...my friends!" Seto exclaimed. "Why would you do a crazy thing like that?"

"Why do you think?" Kaiba snapped. "To do what your incompetent self couldn't do...free Mokuba! After all, somebody had to do it, and you never would."

"You… freed… Mokie?" Seto asked.

Kaiba gave a cocky smirk, knowing this was only proving his superiority over him even more. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did. It wasn't too difficult to show Noah for the weakling he really is. Though I have to admit...he wasn't bad. But, still not good enough to defeat me. And as expected, he tried to weasel out of the deal to give Mokuba to me. Of course...I predicted that, too."

"I can't believe it. You….wait, what happened after you defeated him?"

"We took Mokuba and his belongings from his old home and back to your place, of course." Kaiba answered.

"No..."

"What's the problem?" Kaiba asked.

"Seto, is something wrong?" Aiko asked.

Seto began to pace back and forth, deep in thought.

Kaiba not having the patience to watch this, directed his attention to Mokuba. He grabbed a pillow off the couch and gently laid Mokuba's head on it, to make sure he was comfortable. Then after hearing a slight whimper from him, Kaiba grabbed his dragon nearby, and put it in Mokuba's arms. Mokuba immediately latched on to it and Kaiba's coat that was around him, snuggling up with both. Kaiba gave up and surrendered his coat to him, as well.

Kaiba then watched him for a moment, before remembering the idiot version of him was still pacing in the room. So he finally shook his thoughts from Mokuba, and approached Seto.

To stop him from pacing, he grabbed Seto by his collars, and snapped irritably, "What is the problem? I freed Mokuba from Noah's grasp. That 'is' what you wanted, wasn't it? At least, that's what I've been told."

"Of course it is! The problem is, without someone there to help...Noah's bound to come back to get Mokuba again."

Kaiba stared at Seto for a moment, then let him go. He had a point. When Kaiba left, he had assumed Seto would immediately re-appear and take his place to take care of Mokuba. But he never went back. 'Shit.' he thought.

Kaiba crossed his arms, saying, "So, then...what are your plans, hero? I assume you plan on going back to take care of the problem, correct? Then, what are you going to do...cry to the police? Noah owns them. Maybe you plan on whining to your pathetic friends, and have the entire lot of you get beat-down!"

"Kaiba...at least consider training him and helping him to learn what he needs to, to survive this." Aiko begged.


	10. C10 Training

_**C10 Training**_

Kaiba glared down at Seto for a moment. Then with a snort, he stated, "Train 'him'? Why bother...it would just be a waste of my time."

"You don't think I can handle it?" Seto asked.

Kaiba gave him an amused smirk, stating, "I don't have to think about it...I know you can't handle it. There is no possible way you could ever come even close to my level of abilities!"

Seto glared angrily at him, and snapped, "And why is that...because I didn't turn into a cold-hearted jerk like you?"

Kaiba turned away from him, and replied, "You know, you really shouldn't talk about yourself that way. Have you forgotten, you're supposed to be another version of me? How sad...for a supposed genius, you certainly have a strange way of showing it. What a total waste of human existence."

Seto muttered, "Fine. Well, maybe I don't have all the wealth and power you do. But I have something better...I have friends."

Kaiba winced, just hearing that come from the mouth that was supposed to be him. He turned around, snapping, "I've heard enough! It makes me sick just looking at you! You have the nerve to try and claim you're better than me? While you spent your time 'hanging out' with your friends, I dedicated my entire existence struggling for my brother's benefit. Everything I've done I've done for him! Can you honestly say the same, 'Seto'?"

Seto took a step back from Kaiba's speech, his words hitting a chord.

"Just look at you...you're pathetic. Your whole life was growing up being coddled by your parents and your annoying friends...you've never had to struggle for one single thing!" Kaiba snapped, continuing to bash him down.

Kaiba now glared at him. And in so doing, only seemed to grow even more disgusted at him. "And sadly enough, as much as I've tried...I can't find one thing in you that could possibly reflect me in the slightest. You're not even a shadow of who I am. If there was anything...anything at all in you that could reflect the true potential that you were destined for...you would have all ready broken away from your pitifully sheltered life by now, and worked that much harder to free Mokuba. But then, maybe you just don't care what he had to endure at the hands of that madman and his brat kid."

"That's not true! I do care what happened to Mokie! It broke my heart to see him hurt or sad knowing there was little I could do about it!"

"Hmph...yeah, you look broken-hearted." Kaiba said, unconvinced. "I'm sure it really pained you to be hanging out with your little geek friends, while Mokuba's being tortured at his home!"

"It...wasn't like that!" Seto cried out.

"You think because you hang out with Yugi's group and I don't, that makes you better than me? If anything, it's just the opposite. Thanks to the lessons of 'my' past, the only thing that remains of my heart belongs to Mokuba. But, you...your dedication to your friends become a liability that only weighs you down, making you be the pathetic person that you are, now! Have you ever thought about how Mokuba feels, while watching from his private prison in that mansion as you go skipping by with your friends? I'm surprised Mokuba even believes you care about him, considering you never set your mind to try harder to beat Noah! Why don't you just admit it...you gave up on him, to focus on your pitiful friendship!"

"That's not true!" Seto said. "I never gave up, I continued to fight for him!"

Seto's head then dropped to the ground in shame, as he stuttered uncertainly. "M-maybe you're right. Maybe I should have fought harder...maybe I could have done better. But I never once gave up on trying to free Mokuba..."

Kaiba only scowled at the uncertain reaction from Seto, something he only saw from him as a sign of weakness. "'Maybe' you should have tried harder?" Kaiba shook his head at him, in disgust. "No, you weren't giving up on him...you're giving up on yourself. And that's just as bad."

Kaiba turned away and spat out, "Why don't you just quit now and go crawl away into another universe, so you don't have to embarrass yourself any further. You're hopeless..."

"No! I'm not giving up on anything! That's not what I meant, at all!" Seto yelled, growing in frustration with this other him. "Maybe I didn't grow up the same as you...but I said I never gave up on trying to free Mokie. And I never will, no matter how many times I fail...I will still stand and fight for him!"

Kaiba finally stopped, after Seto began to yell at him. Without turning his way, he gave a slight smirk, saying, "All right, kid. Maybe there's still a little backbone in you, after all. I suppose I could at least try and see if there's a chance for you absorb anything." Kaiba then kept walking, heading into his office.

'Kid? Who's he calling kid?' Seto thought. Then realizing he got Kaiba to actually agree, he whispered, "Yes!" keeping himself from doing a happy dance with Kaiba still not too far from him.

He then turned to Aiko, asking, "Uh...what do I do, now?"

Aiko shrugged, "I suppose you follow him..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

On his way to his office, Kaiba nearly tripped as a familiar cat darted from nowhere, and tackled his leg. He stared at the thing in bewilderment, as the thing attempted to playfully bat at his lower pant leg, fascinated at the material's movement due to its paw hitting it.

Kaiba's surprise quickly grew to irritation, as he bent down and picked up the cat. He couldn't believe he had to accept one of Wheeler's 'gifts' into his house. "The things I do for you..." he muttered, thinking of Mokuba.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Before Seto was able to leave, Kaiba strolled back into the room, cat in his arms. He walked over to Mokuba, and gently shook him awake. "Come on, kiddo...get up."

"Why are you waking him?" Seto asked.

"Seto's right." Aiko said. "He just went to sleep not that long ago. Personally, I'm surprised he managed to sleep through the yelling."

"Hmm?" Mokuba quietly muttered. "What's up, big brother?" he asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.

In reply to Mokuba's question...Kaiba brought his hand over holding the cat, and plopped it unceremoniously next to Mokuba.

Mokuba looked sheepishly up at his brother, and muttered, "Sorry, Seto. I'll put her in her room."

"You woke him up, just to have him take care of his cat?" Seto asked. As he did, all he could think of was, 'Wasn't he preaching to me a minute ago how he dedicates his life to that kid? He sure has a funny way of showing it...'

"He needs to go to bed. He shouldn't be sleeping on the couch in the first place." Kaiba answered.

Mokuba then turned to Seto, saying, "It's my fault, anyway. I got this as a gift from Joey, but Seto doesn't really like cats. So, he told me to keep Tipper in the cellar, to keep her from running around the house. I should have listened to him."

"You don't like cats?" Seto asked Kaiba. Seto never had a problem with animals...so, why would another version of himself not like cats? Then another thought hit Seto's mind, and he asked, "Wait a minute...if you don't like cats, then why do you have one?"

"Because it's 'his' gift." Kaiba answered, as if Seto should have figured that out. Kaiba then narrowed his eyes at Seto, asking, "Why...is there a problem with that?"

Seto shrugged. "Well...it's just strange that you hate cats and still allow Mokuba to have one."

"Seto's not a cat-hater...he just doesn't like them!" Mokuba said in his defense, as if that made all the difference in the world.

Kaiba then snapped at Seto, "You do realize these stupid comments you're making are not helping your case, any..."

Kaiba then turned to his brother, saying softly, "Mokuba...put your kitten downstairs in her room, then get to bed."

Mokuba nodded, "Okay, big brother." and did as he asked.

Aiko then added, "I'll go with you, Mokuba." and followed Mokuba, to allow Kaiba room to try and train Seto.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba headed straight to his office, totally ignoring Seto who followed along and wasn't even sure if he was supposed to follow or not. 'So, is he going to try and teach me something, or just pretend I don't exist?'

'Why am I doing this again?' Kaiba wondered, as he went in to his office and turned to watch Seto carefully follow him in. Looking at Seto again was an instant reminder why. Seto was supposed to be some kind of alternate reality version of him. If that was true, then there should be at least some part of himself he could find in Seto to do what was needed to do.

Kaiba honestly didn't want to see another version of him as hopeless. He didn't want to believe in any possibility that without his disastrous past, he may have never had the chance of becoming anything like the man he was, now. Not to say he liked being who he was, but being a loser that could not defend Mokuba was unacceptable.

Seto entered the room, looking around in awe. "Wow...you really like dragons. Just look at this place!"

Then again...maybe he 'wanted' to prove to everyone else that this other version of him was a failure. Maybe Kaiba was just looking for a reason to suggest his other idea to Aiko.

"Let's get started." Kaiba said, closing the door.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba decided to start by first teaching Seto how to duel better.

Seto was stunned by the cards he was looking through in the deck Kaiba handed him. "Hey, you have some pretty good cards. And...you have 3 Blue Eyes White Dragons! How did you do that?"

"The first thing we need to do is properly teach you how to play the game." Kaiba stated, trying very hard to ignore Seto's stupid comments.

"I know how to play!"

"If you knew how to play, you wouldn't have everyone continually wiping the floor with you." Kaiba retorted.

Seto looked down. "Well...I try."

"That's another problem. You have to stop thinking that you're going to try and do your best, and concentrate on succeeding. I was taught from a very early age what the penalty of defeat was...something you obviously never learned." Kaiba said, as he moved to his suitcase filled with cards, opened it up and began to organize some of them together.

"Penalty of defeat?" Seto asked.

Kaiba continued to ignore Seto, as he said, "Another problem among many is the lack of useful cards you have. Thankfully between me and Mokuba, you now have a decent deck."

"What do mean by that?"

"That means you have better cards. Don't tell me you didn't understand that, either..." Kaiba said, already getting agitated.

"No, that's not what I meant! What I meant was...what do you mean that you and Mokuba put my deck together?" Seto asked.

"Even though Mokuba doesn't remember, somehow his soul ended up sharing the same body with your Mokuba."

"What? How? Why?"

"How should I know? All I know is when I went to your world, I learned that it wasn't just your Mokuba, but mine as well." Kaiba paused for moment, thinking of that painful time. Until Seto showed up, he had nearly convinced himself that it was all an illusion and it never really happened. Mokuba never got that sick...he never almost died.

Perhaps that was yet another reason he hated this Seto so much. His very presence here was a constant reminder of just how real it was, stopping any further denial from kicking in. Mokuba almost died...he almost lost his brother, forever.

Of course, it also didn't help that he came back with Seto's deck, meaning he had six BEWD cards, total...something which was impossible without three being fakes.

Mentally shaking the thoughts about Mokuba dying from his head, Kaiba turned back to Seto, glaring at him almost hatefully. "So, incase you didn't figure it out, yet...the deck your holding isn't my deck, it's yours. When I came here, this deck came with me. And now it's back in your hands."

"You mean...this is 'mine'?" Seto asked.

Kaiba sighed at the stupid question. So, Seto didn't realize it...idiot. This was going to be a loong night. "Let's just get back to the game, all ready. You now have a deck that's similar to mine in that time period, with all three Blue Eyes White Dragons."

"Wow." Seto said, looking them over again. "And, I never even used the one Blue Eyes I had."

"I know...and that was your first mistake."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba started to teach him the best he could to get Seto to properly use his deck to his best ability. And after an hour of this, it looked like Seto was slowly beginning to make some progress. He was a fast learner compared to the average person on the street, but not nearly fast enough for Kaiba's taste.

From there, Kaiba showed him some older tapes on various dueling strategies that many decent players have used, including Kaiba using a very similar-styled deck. After getting Seto to absorb some of that, it was time to take a break from Dueling and turn his attention on Kaiba Corp.

Kaiba explained the aspects of what he had to go through on a daily basis at work. Unfortunately, Seto was quickly lost due to the overwhelming information. Deciding to try a different approach, Kaiba next showed all the various back-stabbers he had to deal with while in charge of the company, in hopes to show Seto how he should never trust anyone.

The only problem that kept coming up was anytime Seto tried to question Kaiba on what happened to him while Gozaburo was in charge, he either side-stepped the issue, or altogether refused to answer.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile in the alternate world, the gang had decided to take a break at the Domino Park.

"Calm down, Angie...we'll get Mokuba back. You'll see." Tea said, trying to calm her friend down.

"So, uh...Angie. No offense, but...why you acting all protective of Mokuba, all of a sudden?" Joey asked.

"He's my brother! Why shouldn't I be?" Angie asked.

"We know that, Angie." Tea said. "But when Seto was here before, you seemed to be more jealous that Seto acted like he cared more for Mokuba than you."

"Yeah." Tristan agreed. "And now, you seem to be acting almost as mental as him!"

Everyone glared at Tristan for the rotten comment, and he quickly added, "Uh...no offense."

Angie looked down at the ground and smiled. "Yeah...I guess I was acting kinda jealous before, huh? I just didn't understand why my own brother seemed to act like he cared for him more than me. But, you know...after I've been around Mokie for the short time I had, I think I finally started to get it."

She then looked back up at the others, saying, "He had to focus more on Mokie than me, cuz the poor kid really needed it. I was safe in my own home with my parents, while he was in there with Noah doing who knows what to him!"

Angie looked away, watching the other kids play in the park around them. "I was always the youngest of the family, with everyone always treating me like a little kid. But then suddenly for the first time in my life, I had someone that really needed me. Seto was always there to give that to me, but Mokie never had anything like that."

She then looked at the ground in despair. "He counted on me to keep him safe and help him. And all I did was fail him..."

"No you didn't!" Joey insisted. "It aint your fault, Angie!"

"Joey's right, Angie." Yugi said. "I'm sure you did your best to protect him."

"No, I didn't! If I did, I wouldn't have lost him in that crowd!" Angie cried.

Tea placed a hand on Angie's shoulder. "Don't blame yourself...it couldn't be helped."

"After what Mokie did to try and protect me, I should have been able to do more..." Angie said.

"Protect you, how?" Joey asked.

"Earlier, Mokie spotted Noah's goons before I did, and pulled me into an alley quick so that they wouldn't spot us." Angie said.

"Sounds like the kid's got guts." Tristan said.

"And now...he's in that house, probably letting himself get hurt to protect me again! And I can't even do anything to help him!"

"Stop it Angie!" Yugi started. "No one blames you for what happened with Mokuba! You did your best to save and protect him. I don't think Mokuba would blame you, nor do I think he'd want you to."

Angie finally calmed down, after hearing Yugi's words. "You're right, Yugi...I have to be strong. I can do this! With or without anyone's help, I'm going to try to get Mokuba back!"

"That a girl." Tristan said.

"Well, except for maybe the 'without anyone's help' thing." Joey said. "I mean, you don't gotta worry about us, Ang. We'll be right there to help you get Mokuba back!"

"Yeah! We'll help find your older brother, then together we'll save Mokuba from Noah's evil!" Yugi added.

"Thanks, guys." Angie said.

"Well, now that that's over with...lets get back to searching!" Joey said.

Everyone nodded in agreement and went back to searching.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile, Kaiba was getting more and more frustrated with trying to teach Seto all he felt he needed to, in such a small amount of time.

He'd been at it for over two hours and felt like he was right back to where he started from. Though Seto was learning from what Kaiba was teaching him, nothing would be able to teach Seto the training expertise that he had towards Duel Monsters.

In fact...one of the main problems Seto was having, was the ability Kaiba had with being able to pull exactly the right combination of cards that he needed. The worst part about it was Kaiba had no way to explain it to him, either. He told Seto it was skill and knowledge of knowing his cards so well, which wasn't entirely true.

Somewhere deep down...Kaiba knew why this happened. Yami had achieved his goal in teaching Kaiba the Heart of the Cards, whether he wanted to accept it or not. And somewhere in the very back recesses of his mind...he did believe. But believing it and admitting it were two entirely different things.

Basically, Kaiba's pride was in the way. He would rather rip out his own tongue, before openly admitting he believed Yugi's nonsense to anyone, even himself...even another reality of himself. So, how in the world could he ever teach anyone the ability he learned, when he could barely understand or acknowledge it, himself?

Either way, Seto's skills were simply too lacking for Kaiba, to find him capable of doing anything that was necessary for the trip. Of course...with this true, then the next plan Kaiba had in mind looked like he would have to bring up, after all.

Before Kaiba could do anything else, there was a sudden knock on the door. "Come." Kaiba coldly commanded, assuming it was Aiko.

But it wasn't...it was Mokuba. He was wiping some tears from his eyes, as he came over to Kaiba and hugged him.

Seto had no idea what was going on, and Kaiba became quickly concerned.

"I'm sorry, Kaiba." Aiko said, now entering. "I told him to stay in bed."

"What's wrong?" Kaiba asked, in concern, automatically fearing the worst.

"I'm sorry, Seto...I had a nightmare, and..." Mokuba hiccupped from being upset.

"Calm down." Kaiba said. "What was it?"

Mokuba was still clutching onto his stuffed dragon for dear life, as he was now holding his brother just as tight, trying to keep from trembling. "It - it was Pegasus. He was coming after me, again. Everywhere I ran, he was still there with that eye of his glowing at me. What if he comes back again?"

"Again?" Seto asked. Just how much did Kaiba and Mokuba keep from him, anyway? And why would Mokuba be afraid of someone like Pegasus?

"It wont happen...I promise you." Kaiba said, holding him. Kaiba then added, "I had our best people investigate Pegasus fully. Not only did Pegasus now retire, it seems that stupid of Eye of his was stolen. So, I guarantee you have nothing more to worry about."

Mokuba looked up at Kaiba, asking, "Really?"

Kaiba smiled, and nodded. "I guess we're not the only ones he pissed-off."

Seto also wondered about this eye they were talking about, but decided it wasn't worth asking.

"Kaiba...do you want me to take him back to his room?" Aiko asked.

"No, I'll take care of it. We're finished here, anyway." Kaiba said.

"We are?" Seto asked.

"You are?" Aiko questioned. "So, does that mean he's ready?"

"That was it?" Seto asked. He then shook his head, saying, "Geez, and the way you were acting, I thought I had all this stuff to learn. I don't see what the big deal was, then. Maybe I was just smarter than you thought."

"Yeah, right." Kaiba muttered, picking his brother up and headed towards the door of his office, to leave. "...you wish."

"What? Well, wait a minute!" Seto said, grabbing his arm and stopped him in his tracks. "What the hell are you trying to say, here?"

Kaiba turned, giving a death-glare at his counter part. "First of all...watch your language in front of my brother. And secondly, unless you want to lose that arm, I suggest you let go...NOW."

Seto quickly let go.

"Kaiba, please...is he ready or not?" Aiko asked.

Kaiba sighed, irritated by the both of them. He was tired of dealing with this, and wanted to go down and relax in the living room with his brother, before explaining. But obviously they weren't going to let him leave until they got an answer now. 'Fine...they want an answer, I'll give them an answer!' With that, he walked over to the couch in his office, and gently laid his brother down in it.

Kaiba then remained standing, as he turned and faced the two of them, like he was facing an opponent. "Personally, I thought it was rather obvious...but I guess not. The only things my teachings have done was to prove just how inept this person is! There is no possible way he could handle the job!"

They both looked at him in stunned silence, as he calmed back down and smirked. "There's your answer. Satisfied?"

"No, I'm not. You'll need to come up with a better answer than that!" Seto argued, as he and Aiko waited for Kaiba to say more.

Kaiba turned away, ignoring them both. "I don't need to explain myself to you. Maybe you should go to Kaiba Land and challenge Wheeler for while, until you can learn to at least beat someone in a Duel. In fact, maybe you should take his place for a while and let 'him' go, instead. Even Wheeler would have a better chance at saving Mokuba from your world than you would...which is pathetic, in itself."

"That's bullshit! Maybe the problem is my teacher sucks!" Seto snapped at him. "Don't think I can't tell that you're hiding things from me. You haven't been telling me everything. So, how am I supposed to learn if you don't tell me? If there's more I need to know, then why don't you teach it to me?"

Kaiba turned, with hate burning in his eyes towards Seto. "Because there are some things I refuse to teach you! Believe me...if there's anyone who deserves to be taught the way I was, it's you. But there are just some things I will not stoop to. I will not become that man, no matter how much you beg for it!"

Seto wasn't sure what to say. The fact of the matter was...he just didn't understand. And Aiko, who did know what Kaiba was talking about, didn't know what to say to him, either. But she knew that Seto couldn't stay. So, what other choice was there?

Kaiba calmed down again, and finally walked over and sat down at his desk, indicating he was willing to talk to them more on an even level. The others also sat in seats on the opposite side of the desk, once he sat down.

Kaiba took a calm breath, stating to Seto, "After Mokuba's nightmare, it should be pretty apparent, even to you, that he had his share of kidnappings in the past. I've all ready had my share of having to deal with every lunatic that's shown up at our doorstep. There's nothing I'd really be able to teach you that could help. Every situation is unique. There is no way you'd be able to handle it, and not enough time to teach you what you'd need to know, anyway. Point blank, you don't have the experience or the know-how. You can't duel, you can't fight, you can barely even think for yourself. You're pathetic...it's stupid to even consider having you go."

"I just don't see what the problem is." Seto said. "I'm just going to be popping in and out of different areas, until I hit my world. You act like I'm about to face a battle zone."

Kaiba shook his head. "If you're appearing in various worlds that involve us, then very likely you 'are'! There's not even enough time to teach you to properly defend yourself, if you run into trouble!"

"What do you mean? I know how to fight!" Seto stated.

"We've all ready been through this before." Kaiba said. "So, what do you plan on doing when you appear in a world where you're face to face with Gozaburo?"

"I'm not sure."

"Wrong answer...hesitation would be your downfall. You also trust too easily. Knowing you, you would probably make the stupid mistake of turning your back on him. So, after you're on the ground bleeding, with him laughing down at you...what's your next move, genius?" Kaiba retorted.

Seto then stood, snapping, "Well, then maybe it's time you give me a fight lesson! Or better yet, maybe I'll teach you, this time!"

Aiko quickly decided to jump in before a fight could occur, which would only serve to wake up Mokuba up. "So what do you think we should do?" she asked Kaiba, which seemed to help calm Seto down. He moved slightly away, and sat at the couch next to the sleeping Mokuba.

Kaiba ignored Seto, and turned to Aiko as he calmly stated, "Simple. I don't think he can handle the traveling. Who knows...maybe he's right, and the slim chance that nothing will go wrong will actually occur. But, why take the chance? It was my fault for not thinking ahead that Noah might come back after Mokuba, when I freed him. So, it's my responsibility in the first place to fix the mistake."

"What are you saying?" Seto asked.

"I'm saying I'll be the one traveling the dimensions, instead." Kaiba explained. "I can handle anything that comes along far better than you."

"I can do it!" Seto snapped. "Mokie's my responsibility!"

"That's a nice sentiment, and if you were simply going straight to that reality...I'd be more than happy to let you go make a fool of yourself. But not under these circumstances."

"Aiko, talk to him!" Seto said.

"There's another one of your many problems." Kaiba stated.

"What problems?" Seto asked.

"Aiko...in that closet over there are some pillows. Get one for Mokuba." Kaiba said, ignoring Seto yet again

Kaiba then got up and walked over to the couch. "Move!" was all he said to Seto, who quickly got up and moved away from him. Seto didn't know how to react when Kaiba got that way. He was so angry and cold, it reminded him of Noah.

Aiko got him a comforter as well, which Kaiba used to cover his brother up to make the kid more comfortable as he slept, and make sure he didn't get a chill...he still had a fever, after all.

When Kaiba was done, he moved away from the couch towards Seto...once again bringing his attention back to the alternate version of him. He then stated coldly, "What I mean is that you can't even fight your own battles. The first sign of trouble, and you start whining to some woman to solve your problems for you." It might have been an insult to Aiko herself, but Kaiba was simply too arrogant to consider that, or even care.

"Fine," Seto said, approaching Kaiba. "Well, I'm going and you can't stop me!"

Kaiba answered coldly, "You're going to have to go through me, first."

Seto hesitated, not expecting such a confrontation from him.

Kaiba then added, "If you can successfully do that, I'll take back everything I said about you, and you can go."

Seto still hesitated. Aiko could see a problem was about to occur, and started to frantically wave behind Seto's back against it, to warn Kaiba not to do this...that the noise would probably wake his brother up.

But Kaiba ignored Aiko's signals, as he continued to face down his counterpart. Kaiba now smirked, stating, "What's wrong...don't you think you can handle it? Maybe you should go crawl away now with your tail under your legs, while you still have the chance."

Seto's anger was now peaked. It was bad enough having to deal with the local bullies in his world, but to have his own self-talk down to him like that was too much. He took a swing at Kaiba, who was of course ready for it. In fact...he was purposely baiting him, just to make a point.

Kaiba grabbed his hand, twisting his wrist while his finger pressed hard against a nerve point, causing him to cry out. In an instant, he had his other self down on his knees, helpless and pathetically trying to break Kaiba's hand grip...failing miserably. Unfortunately, Seto's cries also woke Mokuba. But at the moment, Kaiba only focused on his other self. He brought his head dangerously close to Seto's face, hissing, "You can't even deal with yourself...what makes you think you can handle anything else out there?"

"Seto?" Mokuba weakly called out.

Kaiba threw Seto back and walked over to Mokuba. "It's nothing." Kaiba told him brushing his bangs, kissing his forehead and covering him up better with his comforter. He then sat down beside him. "Look kiddo...the only way to get Seto home is to travel dimensions. But if he goes himself, he wont survive the trip."

"So, what's going to happen?"

"I'm going to go in his place." Kaiba told him.

"Do you have to go?" Mokuba asked.

"Yes. But, I'll be back...I promise. I wouldn't leave you."

Mokuba smiled and hugged him. "I love you, big brother."

"Yea...me too, kid. Me, too." Kaiba said squeezing him tight. "Now, I want you to stay here on the couch and rest, so that Aiko and Seto can look after you...all right?"

"Okay, big brother. I promise."

Kaiba laid him back down and kissed his forehead. "Good. And then I'll give you your surprise as soon as I get back."

"Can't I have it now?"

"No. Right now you need your sleep. You've been up a lot later than you should have been, tonight. Now, get some rest." Kaiba then frazzled his brother's head and made sure he was covered good. He then kissed his forehead goodnight, and stood away from the couch, turning back towards Seto.

Seto was still on the ground at the time, and he grabbed Seto's arm...motioning for Seto to join him, at the same time for Aiko, as well.

"Why are you letting him stay here, instead of his room?" Aiko asked, as they walked outside the office.

"I was planning on putting him in his room. But now that I've thought it over...I'd feel better if he was down here while I'm gone, where I'll be counting on you both to watch over him." Kaiba then looked at Seto, as he added, "And there better not be any problems with my brother, while I'm gone!"

"So, why are you looking at me?" Seto asked.

"Because of how incompetent you have been towards your own brother!"

"How do we even know he is my brother?" Seto asked. "No offense, but things aren't exactly the same in my universe."

"No kidding. We'll discuss that at a later time. I don't have time to deal anymore of your stupidity, right now." Kaiba said. "In the mean time...you will keep my brother safe, or there will be hell to pay! Now, Aiko...explain to me how this golden box of yours works again."

Aiko explained again exactly how it worked and what to do in order to activate it.

"We must know when you've reach the right reality. If you don't activate the box within two weeks after arriving, it will activate automatically...pulling you to a new reality whether you want to or not." Aiko said.

"So, how do I stop it?" Kaiba asked.

Aiko explained, "Place your locket on the box when you're certain you are in the correct reality. Mokuba's will then glow and it will allow me to then access the correct portal to that world. Once you've confirmed the right reality, the box will then allow you to leave when you're ready."

"Good. I'll handle Noah while I'm there."

"No. I'll deal with him." Seto said. After Kaiba glared at him from the comment, Seto added, "You even said...I need to prove myself to both Mokuba and to me."

Kaiba smirked...he couldn't argue with that. He then gave Aiko the same protective warning about his brother he gave Seto, then activated the box and finally vanished.

"Do you really think he can handle it better than I could?" Seto asked.

"I can't say...I've never been to alternate realities besides this one and your own. But Kaiba did make some valid points." Aiko replied, hoping Kaiba was up to the task of handling all that was going to be coming his way.


	11. C11 Joey My Love? I

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. It Is Seto/Joey. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ NO FLAMES! 

**Clarity A/N: Warning!** This chapter consists of yaoi. Anyone who may find M/M coupling offensive can still easily skip chapters 11-13, without fear of loosing too much information on the storyline. This merely involves one trip among many possibilities from various universes. This Chapter I'd also like to dedicate to Insight to Insanity. Her wonderful story 'Snowed-in' is what helped inspire me to write this particular reality.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x

_**C11 Joey My Love? I**_

Kaiba shook his head, not expecting to feel so dizzy after being thrust into a new reality. He looked around noticing he was in his limo and quickly figured out he was in the wrong reality. As the limo drove up, it suddenly slammed on the brakes, as the car in front of them suddenly stopped without warning. The sudden stop caused Kaiba to fall forward, hitting his head on the glass partition. He then sat up, rubbing his head and hearing a car honking...fortunately, it was a near miss. Kaiba tried to shake the dizziness, but the headache from the hit was killing him. He reached for an aspirin, just as the limo stopped at the school.

The driver came out and opened the door for Kaiba, asking if he was all right.

Kaiba waved him off and got up, looking out at the school...still feeling slightly dazed and confused. He didn't remember it was time for school, and assumed the hit from stopping fast must have caused him to lose track of time. So, he simply walked away, heading towards school as he normally would.

But as Kaiba reached the school doors, he stopped. Something was...different. For some reason, there were teenage girls outside the school, gossiping as usual. The strange part was...they were not trying to mob and attack him for the first time...ever. Kaiba glanced towards them, but none seemed to look up and him and start screaming in hysterics. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, he quickly looked back at the door and opened it, heading into the school. He had to use all his strength to keep from smiling from the relief...for once he was finally not attacked! But it also left some concern with him...what did it mean? Could the things he had worked on all his life begun to lose interest in the younger minds? Could this hurt his business any? He'd have to figure that out later.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba reached homeroom, handing his work to the teacher, so she wouldn't bother him with asking for it after their names were called. He then sat down and began to set-up his laptop. As he did, the teacher looked up and smiled, saying, "Being ahead of the class again, Mr. Kaiba? We're going to need today's paper."

"That is today's paper." Kaiba stated.

The teacher shook her head, saying, "No, we're on page 236...this is page 238."

"You gave me this assignment yesterday, which I wrote down in my book." Kaiba said, opening the book and showing the assignment written by him that today's work was page 238.

"Then you must have wrote it down wrong, because everyone is on page 236 today." the teacher said.

By this time, Kaiba had returned to the teacher's desk to straighten this out. As they were arguing, the geek squad was showing up, all saying, "Hey Kaiba!" to him, as they went to their seats. That only made this whole situation more confusing, trying to figure out how the teacher became two days behind, at the same time why Yugi's little 'click' were acknowledging him.

He ignored the strange hello's and went into his folder, pulling out the work sheet from two days ago that had already been handed in and graded by the teacher. He put it down, saying, "This is page 236. You already got it, you already graded it and handed it back to me." The frustration and impatience were beginning to be heard in the tone of his voice, but at this point he didn't care. No one dared to tell Kaiba that 'he' was wrong...especially when he wasn't.

The teacher looked at it, now equally puzzled, saying, "Well, that's strange. That 'is' my handwriting..."

At that moment, Kaiba thought he felt something rub his ass as the next student went by, and Kaiba glanced over to see...Wheeler? The Mutt smiled and winked at him, as he passed by and took a seat.

Kaiba was not in a position to fight and argue with any students though, as the teacher stood, asking, "Kids, what page did I assign for you to do for today?"

They all responded, "Page 236", confusing Kaiba more. It didn't make sense...and Kaiba didn't like things that didn't make sense.

She shrugged, saying, "Well, how about this. Let me take 236, you give me 237, and I'll keep 238 and simply assumed you pushed ahead, again. Then you wont have to worry about doing the assignments for the next two days. But don't forget there's a test on Friday."

"Yes, ma'am." he nodded politely and headed to his seat, glancing over at the strange smiling people from Yugi's group, and the Mutt giving him another wink.

Kaiba sat down and decided to ignore everyone and do his work...their behavior was too confusing for the moment, and he was still trying to figure out how he got two days ahead. He pulled out his laptop and began to continue his work.

Joey was sitting next to him in class and inched his head over, saying, "Hey, Seto...what's the problem?"

Kaiba slowly looked over and gave him his death glare. "What did you call me, Mutt?" he asked, hostility evident in the quiet tone of his voice. 'How dare he call me by my first name!' he thought. 'If that loser thinks for a moment I'm going to tolerate that, he's asking for a world of pain...'

To make it even more confusing to Kaiba, Joey looked back at him from the question, smiled, and playfully said, "Woof." in an almost flirting manner. Kaiba just stared at him, like Wheeler was on drugs or something. Yet, the surprised stare on Kaiba's face didn't help much. Joey seemed to like Kaiba's fixed attention on him and winked at him, asking again, "So what's the problem?"

"You are." Kaiba answered coldly and abruptly turned back to his laptop to continue working, since he really wasn't sure how else to react to Wheeler's strangeness. He went through his head, trying to figure out what Joey was up to and why. 'Maybe he came up with a plan, together with the geek squad, in an attempt to get back at me for all the times I got the best of him.' he thought. 'That had to be it. His strange behavior was trying to throw me off...maybe some stupid attempt to embarrass me. Well nice try, as pathetic as the attempt was...it's not going to work.' As he kept to himself, he decided to silently try and listen to their conversations today. If they had something planned, he'd be able to over-hear it and perhaps figure out what was going on. Yet, they didn't seem to be talking, or planning anything. Perhaps they already made their arrangements in the morning, so they wouldn't have to talk about it during school. If that was the case, then this group was getting smarter. But they couldn't hide what this was about from him, forever.

As Kaiba was thinking this, he found another thing 'out of place'. His appointment book was off. It also seemed to be two days behind. His attention immediately abandoned the group and focused on why everything about him seemed to have a two days difference.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There were more classes with Yugi's friends in it...Wheeler in two of those classes. All times, they gave a strange 'hello' calling to him. But this time, Kaiba changed his strategy and ignored them completely, as if they weren't even there. And by this time, he was simply too concerned about this strange time lapse in everything...including all his other classes. He had called work by this time, to try and fix the problem and they confirmed the appointment book on the computer was accurate. Everything in his email and internet access was accurately two days early, but everything saved in his laptop was two days ahead. According to his secretary, he'd basically have the same meetings with the same people, even though his notes showed everything that already happened. He just didn't get it...had he ended up in some kind of time lapse? Perhaps he was still asleep and didn't know it?

As he was trying to figure it out, he was ignoring Wheeler that was sitting right in front of him. In this particular class, that's where he sat. At that moment, Joey turned around, saying, "Psst...psst, hey Seto..."

"Call me that again and you'll die." Kaiba whispered back calmly, not even looking at Joey, as he continued to type.

"Aww...no Mutt, this time?" he asked quietly, sounding almost like he was pouting. Before Kaiba could say anything, he added, "You been really quiet today, is something wrong?"

Kaiba finally glared up at him and stopped typing. He calmly whispered back, "I don't know what you and the geek squad are up to, Mutt...but I'm not amused. I have work to do...leave me alone."

"Oh, so you got a big pile of work today, huh? No problem, then...I'll bug you later." he said, giving him another strange wink and turned back around.

He sat staring at Joey's back, still not quite sure why he was acting so...strange. He quickly glanced at the other part of the geek squad.

There! Yugi had glanced his and Joey's way, then whispered something to Gardner. She then did her ditzy giggle. 'I knew it...they're planning something.' he thought. But what? What were they up to? This wasn't the day to be bothered by them, either. He had to concentrate on work, and didn't have time for their childish actions. He had to find out why everything in work and all the classes in school were two days behind.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lunchtime had arrived and Kaiba was in his usual spot, in the back of the lunchroom. He was sitting at a table by himself, still trying to figure out the problem. At least he had no schoolwork today, because that was all done, as well as the next two days...but work was different. His being two days ahead in fact made him two days behind, or at least his entire business. So, he was constantly on the phone, arguing with everyone and working on things he had already done...making his filing system a mess. But something made him pause for a moment, as something else strangely occurred. People were...staring at him. Yes, the geek squad was looking his way and one or two were pointing, but they weren't the only ones. There were others doing the same. Was this something unusual for him to be working in here? He'd done this every day of his life. Taking a quick glance at himself, he checked to see if his clothes or hair was possibly out of place. No, his clothes were fine, his fly was up, his skin color didn't suddenly change blue...so what the hell were their problems?

Trying not to get frustrated, he ignored them all and began to do his work, as they eventually stopped the staring and went to their own business. Now Wheeler came in, looking very depressed for some reason. He talked to the geek squad who pointed towards Kaiba, once again getting Kaiba's attention. As Kaiba glanced up, he noticed the Mutt look over, which seemed to brighten Joey's whole mood...as if Joey's bad mood was not knowing where Kaiba was, until he found out. But then...why wouldn't he know he's here and why should he care?

Kaiba ignored Joey and his strange behavior, continuing his typing. Yet, instead of the Mutt sitting with his friends, he came over and sat down next to Kaiba. Kaiba paused his work, glancing at Joey from the corner of his view, as the guy put down his grotesque lunch food and began to devour it. How he could even eat the food they offered the school kids, Kaiba had no idea. But either way, Joey didn't seem to be saying anything to him at the moment, simply sitting next to him eating.

Kaiba had considered threatening him, for daring to sit next to him, but he reconsidered. He was certain it was probably part of this joke they had been attempting all day, now...and was really getting sick of it. Just to confirm he was right, he glanced up at the rest of the group, and sure enough he noticed some of them looking back for a moment and smiling, expectantly.

'Idiots.' Kaiba thought, focusing back on his laptop. As far as he was concerned, he simply had more important matters to take care of, then worry about Wheeler and whatever their strange prank presently was. He had a job to do, and he refused to allow Joey and the others to distract him from the problem at hand.

So decided to refuse to take the bait, Kaiba ignored Joey entirely and continued to type as if he wasn't even there.

Joey glanced over at him and smiled, while Kaiba was occupied with his corporate make-up work. He reached his hand over to Kaiba and slid his hand between Kaiba's crotch. Joey smiled, thinking how priceless the look on his lover's face was, as Kaiba instantly froze on the spot, the redness quickly forming on his face and the bulge suddenly forming as well, as he gently stroked him, whispering, "Hey Seto, how about after school, you and me. My tongue can't wait to taste you again..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had placed all concentration on his work, actually forgetting for the moment that Wheeler was sitting right next to him. Then suddenly...something happened and he felt something warm appear in between his legs and begin to stroke him. He froze...shock wasn't even a strong enough word to describe his reaction.

For that instant, he was paralyzed as panic swept into his mind, not sure what to do. At the same time, no one had ever touched him like that before and he cursed his own hormones from the pleasure he felt from it, knowing full well this was Wheeler's hand daring to humiliate him like this. His choices were to beat Joey senseless right here and now, which would cause a hell of a scene...or try to ignore it, which would only allow Joey to continue to do this to him. Ignoring him wouldn't cause a scene, but the embarrassment of allowing him to do that to him would be too great. But if he caused a scene, then everyone might figure out what Wheeler was doing to him, which he really didn't want anyone to know. But the more he thought about what to do, the more time he wasted, the more time Joey had to play with him this way and the more embarrassed he got by the moment...and the pleasure was getting more intense, causing his mind to not think clearly. Plus the whisper Joey muttered to him, only made this situation more uneasy. As it was, just getting a hard-on from what he was doing was humiliating enough, giving Joey plenty of ammo to use against him later.

Kaiba finally decided he couldn't allow himself to sit there and take it...it would make him and the geek squad (who probably planned all this) think he enjoyed it and allowed him to do it. No...it already went on for too long. He could actually feel the strange teenage lust in him trying to keep himself from fighting back, wanting this. He couldn't allow anyone else to think Joey could actually cause him to drop his guard like that and give-in.

Joey was getting a hard-on himself, seeing how Kaiba was reacting to it, or at least trying not to, as if his motions were causing some kind of internal conflict in him. If Kaiba's hard-on grew any bigger, Joey thought he'd end up busting out of his pants...his breathing was controlled and forced, to try and keep his breaths from quickening, though it was sounding more raspy and his jaw was clenched tight. Joey quietly traveled his hand down, caressing his hard balls, then coming back up, stroking his stem. Yet, finally something clicked in Kaiba and he sprang up with all the fiery dancing in those ice blue eyes, and decked Joey as hard as he could.

Everyone looked over, as Joey was sprawled on the floor...his nose bleeding everywhere, barely able to move. After all...Joey made no attempt to try and dodge or block the blow, as if he never expected it. Immediately, the rest of his friends dashed over to see what happened, equally shocked from Kaiba's reaction...even though Kaiba couldn't understand why.

Kaiba had no intention on sticking around, though. He was embarrassed enough, and Joey's little trick was going to make it very difficult for him to walk straight as he headed out of the cafeteria, which would not help his pride any.

Yugi tried to stop him, saying, "Kaiba...why did you do that to Joey?"

"As if you didn't know." Kaiba snarled at Yugi. "I'm tired of you and your friend's little games. Next time you and your group try and play anymore tricks, that loser wont be the only one on the ground, broken!" With that said, he grabbed his things and left the cafeteria in a haste.

As he was leaving the cafeteria, one of the girls stopped him, saying, "Mr. Kaiba...since you're having a fight with your boyfriend, does that mean you're available again? Cuz I am, if you are..."

Kaiba blinked at the question. Did he hear that right? "What?"

She backed up nervously, saying, "Hey, I don't have a problem if a guy was with a guy. I can go both ways too, you know? Maybe we could just play around a bit first, and see how it goes..."

'Both ways? I'm not into guys! What is this girl talking about?' Kaiba thought. Could this joke have gone so far to cause the whole school to think he's gay, now? 'What the hell is going on, here?' He considered maybe she saw what Wheeler had done, but the whole question didn't sound right. She didn't sound like she was teasing, she sounded as if this was something that had been going on for some time. It didn't make sense, like a lot of things, today. And Kaiba didn't like it when things didn't make sense...it made him confused, it made him look stupid and he didn't like looking stupid.

He snarled, "Get lost." and stormed away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba was now forced to sit in the waiting room to see the principal, with none other than Joey next to him, also waiting. Obviously, the teacher had come in to see what the commotion was after Kaiba left, and there were many witnesses that saw Kaiba cause the damage he did to Joey Wheeler. Now he was going to have to explain this to the principal, something he also didn't feel comfortable doing. Wheeler was sitting there with an icepack on his nose, looking silently miserable at Kaiba. 'At least one thing went well.' he thought, sneering coldly at Wheeler, which only seemed to make Joey strangely more depressed. 'Serves him right...what did he expect me to do, make out with him?'

The Principal then called them both in, and they sat down in front of his desk. "Well, I see you two are back again. Mr. Kaiba, I am very shocked to hear of your behavior in this. You know that violence is not tolerated in this school."

"He didn't do anything." Joey suddenly said, surprising Kaiba as he looked over at him. Was Joey Wheeler defending him, even after he punched him?

"Excuse me, Mr. Wheeler?" the Principal asked.

"I said he didn't do anything wrong. He didn't attack me." Joey said.

"We have 20 witnesses that state otherwise, Mr. Wheeler." the Principal explained.

"It was an accident...I slipped." Joey said.

The Principal was skeptical and looked to Kaiba, saying, "Is this true?" already in doubt.

"No, I hit him and it was certainly no accident." Kaiba stated coldly. He assumed Joey was trying to weasel his way out of his own guilt, and Kaiba was not going to let him get away with it.

Joey snapped, "Will you shut up, already? I'm trying to help ya, here!"

"Help me? More like you were helping yourself. The Mutt here assaulted me." Kaiba stated.

"Assaulted you, in what way?" the teacher asked.

Kaiba paused, feeling uncomfortable with his next response...finally spitting out, "Sexual assault."

"Oh, sexual assault my ass! How do you sexually assault someone you're going out with?" Joey asked.

"Going out with? You mean, dating? Is this part of you and your groupies joke, to try and convince the school that I would date you? Why the hell would I even date a guy?" Kaiba snapped.

"Um...well, Mr. Kaiba...that was mentioned during our last visit here." The Principal stated.

"The Mutt said this to you, before?" he asked, getting ready to hit Joey again...this time with the Principal as a witness.

"No...YOU did." the Principal said sternly.

Kaiba froze, looking at the man. "That's not funny."

"No...it's not. Last time I thought you two were fighting, you personally insisted to me that it wasn't fighting, you were making-out. You don't remember this? This was last week..." the Principal said, thumbing through his past schedule, as Kaiba just stood there frozen. "It was last Tuesday, also during lunchtime." The Principal said, then looked back up at him.

"Last Tuesday..." Kaiba said, trying to remember anything about it, anything at all...nothing came to mind. "But...Wheeler never did anything like this before."

Joey finally sighed, "Do you at least remember the night of the big snow storm, a few months back? The power went out, you were snowed in at Kaiba Corp?"

Kaiba looked over, surprised that Joey would even know that information. "How the hell did you know about that?"

"Cuz I was there!" Joey snapped.

Kaiba blinked, "You weren't there...I was the only one in the building." He remembered it well...he nearly froze to death. He was forced to go down into the car garage and turn the car on so he could warm himself up and hope he didn't die of asphyxiation. He never saw Wheeler.

"Oh, come on! We had to use each other's body warmth to keep warm that night!" Joey blurted out, causing Kaiba to turn pale at the thought, and the Principal to look very uncomfortable.

"Okay, I'll let you two off with a warning. Please do not do it again..." the principal said quickly, ushering them out of his room, so he didn't have to hear anymore of this.

They both left the office and he turned to Joey, saying, "You're insane. I wasn't with anyone, but myself. I had work to do and didn't plan on getting chased off by a little snow."

"But it wasn't a little snow, was it? That's why all yer other workers were gone, cuz they planned on getting home in one piece. The snow piled up and even you couldn't get out of the building if you wanted to...then the power went out, all night long." Joey stated.

It was exactly what happened, except he wasn't there was Wheeler. "So, you're trying to convince me that I'm dating you?"

"Yeah, we are...we've been for 6 months, now." Joey said. Kaiba just laughed coldly and began to walk away. "You can even ask my father. You came over and ate dinner with us, to get his approval!"

"His approval? You're Dad's a drunk!" Kaiba stated, looking back over at Joey.

"My Dad's not a drunk...you take that back!" Joey demanded.

"Mutt...you're Dad's in jail almost everyday, which is shown in his police report. He has a folder that's thicker than my briefcase on the amount of times he's been in jail!" Kaiba snapped.

"You know...I think you're the one that's nuts. Maybe you should go and look up that police report again, cuz you got the wrong person. My Dad almost never drinks and when he does he doesn't get plastered, or cause problems. I'm outta here..." Joey said, going the opposite direction.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba told the school he had to leave early due to an emergency business problem, having enough confusion for one day. He gave them the rest of his two-days worth of homework so he wouldn't need to hand it to them later, and left.

It wasn't long before he made it to work and looked up Joey's father's police report. He was shocked to find the Mutt was right...there was only one thing on his file, on a very old domestic violence charge a good 10 years ago. There was absolutely nothing on drunken and disorderly.

Kaiba put his hand to his head, getting a terrible headache, thinking, 'What the hell is going on? I know what I saw! This can't be!' This was no longer seen as some prank by the group...no way were they capable of doing this. Even Kaiba was now beginning to question his sanity. He was going to meetings he had already gone to, people saying exactly the same thing they had said when he was at the meeting before. It was as if he had walked into some kind of re-run, which was really freaking him out. He had physical notes showing what happened at his meetings and schedules that didn't even happen yet. Yet, any information that was not physically connected to him was not there. He had punched in things on his computer to the computer mainframe at work and none of that information was there, anymore.

Finally having enough of this madness, he left and hastily headed home. At least home, he could find some sanity. At home...Mokuba was there, Mokuba would help him. His little brother was his strength when he needed it...and he needed him now more than ever. Everything he ever did was for his kid brother...he knew Mokuba could help him, whatever the problem might be.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba left the car, practically dragging himself to the front door and entered. He stopped at the coat hanger, took off his dark blue trench coat and headed up the stairs, only to stop in his tracks with Joey standing at the top. "It's about time you showed up." he said.

His eye twitched seeing his worst nightmare now in his house. "What...the hell are you doing here?" he asked with a controlled rage that was quickly building.

"I came to visit, like I always do. You were acting crazy today and I came to check and make sure you're okay. Listen...I know for some reason you hate me now and don't remember us being together since day 1. So, if you wanna hit me and that'll make you feel better, than fine. But I still need to know that you're okay." Joey said.

"Glad that you offered." he grinned coldly and approached to Joey's surprise and fear, prepared to take Joey's offer and beat him to a pulp, until he's relaxed once again.


	12. C12 Joey My Love? II

**Mokuba A/N**: The following was written by Clarity2199. It Is Seto/Joey. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ NO FLAMES!

**Clarity A/N:** Warning! This chapter consists of yaoi, bondage, and a heavy lime sex-scene. Anyone who finds M/M offensive can still easily skip chapters 11-13, without fear of loosing too much information on the storyline. Thus, this chapter is highly recommended that you DO NOT READ! This merely involves one trip among many possibilities from various universes. This Chapter I'd also like to dedicate to Insight to Insanity. Her wonderful story 'Snowed-in' is what helped inspire me to write this particular reality.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x

**_C12 Joey My Love? II_ **

"Big Brother!" was suddenly called out, as Mokuba ran over, stopping Kaiba who was merely one step away from his strike area against Joey. "You're home! Joey said you were acting weird and I was worried."

"I'm not acting weird!" Kaiba snarled. "He's the one accusing me of, us of...I am not dating him!" he sputtered out, exasperated.

Mokuba suddenly looked as heart-broken as Joey, and said, "You broke up with him?"

"No, I..." Kaiba began to rant and suddenly shut-up, looking shocked at Mokuba. He calmed instantly and dropped to his knees beside his little brother, making them both at eye-level due to the younger Kaiba's size. Then placing both his hands on Mokuba's shoulders, he said, "Mokuba...not you, too." looking very depressed, suddenly.

"Seto...are you okay?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba gently landed his head on Mokuba's right shoulder and sighed, "No...no I'm not." He took a moment just to take in a few breaths, before adding, "All right, Wheeler...you win. But...but I'm not gay."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The moment of rage Kaiba felt from seeing Joey in his house finally managed to drain away once he got himself something very strong to drink, then collapsed on the couch in his living room. Since it was the loveseat, Joey decided to sit at the chair next to him instead of sharing the seat with him, especially since Kaiba did not seem to be the same person he knew just yesterday. Mokuba had instead sat next to him and put down another glass for him to drink, after he had already downed the first.

He shook his head, saying, "I was sure you and the little geek group were trying to play some twisted trick on me in school. I should have figured something was terribly wrong, when I wasn't overrun by the schoolgirls in the morning."

Joey laughed, "Well, yeah...when we started dating each other, they finally gave up on you, after figuring you must be gay."

"But I'm not gay..." Kaiba added again. He considered saying more to bruise Joey's ego even further, but decided there was no sense...it wasn't Joey's fault.

"But you were fine, yesterday." Joey said.

Kaiba nodded, "I agree...everything was normal. You hated me, I hated you, the rest of your loser friends didn't acknowledge me."

"So, you don't remember going to bed with me last night?" Joey asked.

Kaiba gave him a cold stare, saying, "Don't say things like that in front of my brother. It sickens me enough hearing it."

"But, big brother...you've been sleeping with him for awhile, now..." Mokuba said, not seeming surprised by it.

Kaiba groaned, saying, "Give me that!" taking the drink and downing the second. He almost never drank, and when he did it was for celebrations only...but this was too much for him to deal with, and a little numbness in his brain wasn't going to hurt him for just this once.

"Speaking uh drinking...you look up my Dad?" Joey asked.

He put the glass down hard on the table, saying, "Yes" and stood. "You're right...no record." He shook his head, "I clearly remember seeing him last week being arrested for drunken disorderly. As I said, nothing makes sense." He began to walk and tripped a bit, placing his hand against the wall, to balance himself...the alcohol began to hit him hard.

"You okay?" Joey asked.

"Big brother normally doesn't drink..." Mokuba said.

"You sure? Everything else changed, I'm surprised that didn't." Kaiba said, with only a slight slur.

Joey got up and grabbed his arm, saying, "Maybe we should get you in bed."

"Is that a proposition?" he asked and chuckled...not sure if he was laughing at Joey, or himself.

"Come on..." Joey said, beginning to help him up the stairs.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As they headed upstairs, Kaiba turned, saying, "I wanna see proof..."

"Proof of what?" Joey asked.

"Proof of us. There are all sorts of witnesses, but I want more than that." Kaiba said.

"Well, you 'are' heading to your room. You'll see plenty, soon enough." Joey said, causing Kaiba to be confused at the comment.

They entered Kaiba's room, as Joey led Kaiba to his bed. Immediately, Kaiba's hand came up stopping Joey, as he looked at a very different sight, all together. "What the hell is that?" he pointed, noticing his bed had the silken see-through draperies that went around and above the bedposts

"Yeah, you're a real romantic." Joey smiled.

"That's not my bed." Kaiba said, then yelled, "Where the hell is my bed!"

"That IS your bed! Listen, Seto...I mean Kaiba, you're bed was like that even before we started going out.." Joey said.

Kaiba shook his head, "That's not my bed..." He then quieted, seeing more disturbing things, like the picture of Joey beside his nightstand and the...handcuffs cuffed to his bedposts. "Do I want to know about the handcuffs?"

"No...you don't." Joey said.

Kaiba nodded, accepting that, "Okay." He pulled away from Joey and walked over, looking over his bed, then shook his head. "I can't sleep in this...this looks like something your sister might sleep on."

"It aint gonna bite you and no one's gonna pick on you about it. After all, it's always been this way...you picked it out to be this way." Joey said. "Just try it out...will ya?"

Kaiba turned around and sat down, looking around the rest of the room. His eye caught an unfamiliar book on the floor near the bed and picked it up, looking at the title and front picture.

"Uh...that's a sex book. Ya see, I got this really strange neighbor and I guess she gave you this book to read up on and it kinda gave you ideas on things..." Joey stuttered out. Kaiba opened the book almost casually, thumbing through the pages of this new book. "You know...if it helps, you normally play the dominant of this relationship. You always wanna be on top."

He thumbed through some more, making Joey unsure if he heard or not. Joey then opened the night stand drawer and handed a photo developer envelope with pictures inside, saying, "Here...here's some proof. In order to 'convince' you to come and visit my Dad, you made me pose for these that you wanted."

Kaiba took the envelope and opened it, to see the pictures inside. Pictures of mostly Joey in provocative poses...a few with him and Joey together doing some rather heated things. Kaiba turned pale and weakly dropped the pictures, as they slipped from his hand. 'This isn't real...it's a nightmare, it's all just a sick and twisted nightmare...'

Joey grabbed Kaiba's arm quickly and sat down next to him, worried he was going to fall over onto of those pictures any second. "I'm sorry...you said you wanted proof. I didn't even want to take those pictures, but you insisted."

"Who took them?" Kaiba asked.

"Timed camera." Joey said.

"Who developed them?" Kaiba asked.

Joey answered, "Instant camera...you didn't trust developers, incase they'd end up in some porn magazine."

'It sounded like me.' Kaiba thought, sadly. "Who else knows?"

"About the pictures?" Joey asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No...this supposed relationship."

"Everyone." Joey said. "The news place did a special on it after finding us together, and you confirmed it having them do a follow-up story, since you didn't want it to look like you were hiding anything. You were only pissed cuz you planned on coming out with the both of us, yourself."

Kaiba just chuckled some more, his eyes a strange blank stare, as if he had completely lost sight of fantasy from reality.

Joey smiled and said, "Hey...are you sure you're really not gay? Maybe you just had a memory lapse and you simply don't remember the two of us. I mean, in the cafeteria before you punched me...you did seem to like what I was doing..."

Kaiba grabbed Joey by the collar and shoved him against the headboard, snapping, "Looking for another bloody nose, Mutt?"

"I'm not saying it to taunt you! Will ya give it a rest, all ready? I'm just trying to make a point here! You're trying to tell me you got a hard-on for some 'other' reason besides me stroking you?" Joey asked.

There was a long pause, before Kaiba finally released him...the words Joey said still swimming through his mind. 'Was he right? Could this be temporary amnesia? Everyone in the world couldn't be wrong...even Mokuba confirmed it. Could I have simply lost my memory? I have pictures, for Christ sake, showing me with him! I did get excited when he did that...what if it was more than just hormones? Could it be possible that I could enjoy having company with...another guy?'

He never imagined he could be that type. Then again...he hadn't been with any women, either. He simply never had the time, or wanted to be bothered with it. Work and his brother were all that mattered to him. Kaiba looked at Joey...for the first time 'really' looked at him, to see if there was any possibility of having interest in the person he always felt he couldn't stand. Joey noticed Kaiba studying him and asked, "Uh...you okay?" not sure if he was about to punch him again, or not.

Once again, Kaiba grabbed Joey by the collar. But this time, he pulled Joey to his lips in a passionate kiss, surprising him...

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba pressed his lips against Joey, kissing him with all his strength. At first, Joey had no idea how to react. After all...Kaiba's the one that's been acting anti-gay, practically all day. Now he was kissing him? 'Damn, I wish he'd make up his mind, he's beginning to drive me crazy.' Joey thought. But Joey accepted his kiss, enjoying the fact of being able to taste his lover again. The only difference was the burning taste of alcohol in his mouth. But other than that...it tasted just as sweet.

Kaiba continued to kiss him hard, feeling the pleasure in him growing as he drove Joey down on the bed. In a sudden lust-filled passion, Kaiba began kissing up his jaw, then down his neck, taking a moment to whisper in his ear, "Show me what we do."

"You sure?" Joey asked.

Kaiba roughly yanked Joey's shirt up, pulling it off of him, snapping, "Do I have to say it again?" It wasn't a request, it was an order. Of course, Joey was used to that. But this time, Kaiba acted a lot rougher...kind of like how he pictured him in his fantasy dreams. The Kaiba he knew from yesterday Kaiba was actually more gentle than this.

"No." Joey said and quickly began to open Kaiba's shirt, fumbling on the buttons. Kaiba saved him the trouble, by ripping it over his head and throwing it aside, then threw Joey down on the pillows. "So, you gonna hand-cuff me?" Joey grinned.

"I could...but then I wouldn't know what to do next." Kaiba said.

"I could handcuff you." Joey winked.

"Not on your life." Kaiba said.

Joey went after Kaiba's pants now, saying, "Listen, you want to know what you normally do, right? So, I figured let me show you, and maybe you'll remember. Listen...would I lie to you?"

"Yes. For all I know, this is still all a big hoax." Kaiba said.

"Then why are you doing this?" Joey asked, pulling on his own pants to remove, now.

Kaiba tried to think of the reason, but his head was too foggy, "I don't know..." He pulled Joey close and kissed him again, as his hand came down to help Joey get rid of his pants. "But I don't stop what I start, so I might as well finish it..."

"Then why don't you stop the whining and just put the damn handcuffs on? I promise when I'm done, I'll take them off. Besides...don't you wanna know how far the rabbit hole goes?" Joey smiled, knowing it was a saying from a movie. It was probably a bad pun, too.

Kaiba replied, sourly, "Shut the fuck up. I hated that movie...especially now. I almost feel like I'm in it." Kaiba sighed, adding, "Fine, go ahead. But if I'm right and this was one big joke from you and you're friends...know that after you're done, I'll be sending my men to hunt and kill every one of you."

"Okay, deal." Joey smiled. "You can be so damn paranoid, sometimes."

Kaiba felt rather strange being chained up to his own bed, naked, with Mutt also naked in bed ontop of him. It made him feel strangely defenseless and vulnerable...something he wasn't use to feeling. He was still trying to figure out how Wheeler had convinced him into this position in the first place. Perhaps the strong buzz he was feeling had something to do with it. In fact, he was pretty sure that was the reason he did any of this, at all...and began to wonder how much he was going to regret in the morning.

Joey had rambled about getting a refill, after pulling some kind of lubricant from the drawer and began to get a wad of it on his finger. 'What the hell is he planning on doing with that?' he wondered, but quickly regretted wanting to know, as Joey placed his finger into his opening, causing Kaiba to cry out in surprise. Joey seemed to like the reaction and it equally surprised Kaiba that it caused his lower 1/2 to come to life. As Joey rubbed the inside of him tenderly, he wrapped his lips around his swelling member and began to suck down on him. Kaiba cried out, his eyes fogging over, never feeling anything like this before...and the helplessness actually added to the excitement of it all. Joey continued to arouse Kaiba in so many new and interesting ways, as he licked him up and down his entire body. Finally, when it looked like Kaiba was going to peak pretty soon, Joey pulled out his own member and began to insert himself into him.

When it was over, Joey kept his promise and made sure the handcuffs came off before he collapsed himself beside his lover, pleased to see him as active as he was before. But it was so strange going through this with him again, as if this had never happened between them. Joey hoped by tomorrow that Kaiba would remember something, and stop acting like he was today. At least now, he knew Kaiba couldn't say he wasn't gay after what they had done.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The dim light of the morning began to peak into Kaiba's room...it was still very early, probably around 6 am. Kaiba moaned and wrapped his arms around the nice warm body next to him, feeling very relaxed. He instinctively kissed the object of his pleasure on the lips, as he began to open his eyes...and his nightmare came back to life, once again.

Kaiba reared back in horror to see he was kissing...Joey? The Mutt was 'naked' in his bed? Panic filled his mind, which only caused his head to throb from the terrible hangover he had. Why did he drink last night? Oh yes, because of the reality that Wheeler was supposed to be his boyfriend...the very person in bed with him, now. Did Wheeler take advantage of him? He quickly tried to think through to what happened and began to remember him kissing Joey, letting him handcuff him and...

'What have I done?' he thought, horrified over how he behaved. 'I'm not gay...' But now he wasn't so sure, anymore. Joey was right about how Kaiba felt during the cafeteria. And now he knew it wasn't just hormones alone...he kissed Joey and he remembered liking it. In fact, Kaiba seemed to like it enough last night, that he wanted more and made up his mind to go as far as it took in order to see if he would remember any kind of relationship.

And because of his decision...not only did he still not remember any other events of being with Joey, he now woke up having Wheeler in bed with him, and an ass that was still sore from last night's romp. Obviously, Joey had no qualms of taking full advantage of him once he was chained up. But even now, he was still feeling the bliss from last night...he liked what he did and could still feel the urges in him that wanted to do it again. He couldn't understand it...this was Wheeler, the person he was supposed to hate.

He looked down at the blond mop resting peacefully, and thought...he could accept this. And if he did, he didn't seem to have to be worried about any of the repercussions that he would expect to come from it...everyone all ready knew. Plus if he fought it, he would basically be fighting the whole world in an attempt to prove he 'wasn't' gay...which might infact prove to be impossible, if he already confirmed it himself on national TV.

'But, why didn't any of this make sense?' he wondered. Joey had believed it was amnesia, but it wasn't. He didn't have 'lack of memory'...he had an entirely different set of memories from anyone else. 'That's not amnesia.' he insisted and he knew of no medical cases that would explain what he was going through, short of insanity. He only hoped that wasn't the case. What worried him more was, what if he accepted this and then the world changed around him, again? Then, if he actually accepted wanting to be with him, he'd be suddenly rejected as some kind of freak...even by Joey, himself.

No, Kaiba had to remain true to himself...especially if he had no clue how long the switch of reality was going to last.

Kaiba left the bed early, got dressed into his normal running clothes, and left to get out into the open air. It wasn't as pleasing since he still had a hangover, but it got him away from there for awhile. More and more, he was beginning to wonder if maybe none of this was reality, at all. Perhaps he was trapped in his own mind, and none of this was really happening. Maybe he was in a coma somewhere, in some hospital, once again rotting away as some vegetable, with his brother sitting over him, crying...

He shook those thoughts away, not liking them in the least. Perhaps Joey had a point and he entered some kind of twisted matrix...maybe this was simply someone's virtual reality world he was in.


	13. C13 Joey My Love? III

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. It Is Seto/Joey. DON'T LIKE DON'T READ NO FLAMES! 

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_**C13 Joey My Love? III**_

Kaiba finally returned home, going in the back way and heading to his personal workout room, next. He entered, taking off his shirt and pulled a water from the mini-fridge to have a drink. After a quick break, he then began his usual Judo moves. He could vaguely hear the voices from Joey and Mokuba upstairs, indicating they were both up. Ignoring their muffled voices through the door, he next pulled out the Jo Staff from his weapon's wrack and began to practice with that. The door opened, as Joey began to head down the stairs, saying, "Hey, I didn't know you were into this..."

"Get lost." Kaiba replied coldly without drawing his attention away, and continued to practice.

Joey was now all the way down the stairs, not bothering to listen to him, as he added, "You know, you gotta get ready for school. And what the hell are you wearing? Oh yeah, by the way...how ya feeling after last night?"

Kaiba maneuvered a swinging position towards Joey with it, stopping it barely a millimeter from Joey's face. "I believe I told you to leave."

"That's not very nice." Joey swallowed.

Kaiba turned his back on Joey, heading back to the weapon's wrack, adding, "What ever gave you idea I was nice?" He put the staff away and went to reach for something else...that wasn't there. Kaiba froze, looking over the weapon's wrack, noticing something missing. "What the-..." he muttered to himself, puzzled.

"Hey, from how you were last night, I thought you had a pretty nice time. There's no reason to be acting this..." Joey began, heading in his direction, as Kaiba put his hand up, to shut him up.

Kaiba then turned, calling out, "Mokuba!" and waited for his brother to run over.

It didn't take long for his brother to head down the stairs, as if he was sitting at the top step listening in on them. "Uh...yes, Seto?"

"Where's my Katana?" he asked.

Mokuba looked rather puzzled from the question, asking his own question. "What Katana?"

"'My' Katana...you know what Katana. Where is it?" Kaiba snapped, accusingly.

"Seto...you don't have a Katana." Mokuba said, beginning to look worried about his brother.

Kaiba simply stared at his brother for a few good moments. Then not saying another word, he pushed passed Joey and headed up the stairs, passing his brother, as well.

"Big brother, where are you going?" Mokuba asked.

"To my room. Isn't it time for you two to get ready for school?" Kaiba asked.

They followed Kaiba up, as Joey said, "Yeah, it's time to get ready. So, why do you sound like you weren't including yourself?"

"Because I'm not. I'm not going today." Kaiba answered, heading to his room.

Mokuba looked to Joey, who shrugged, equally confused and followed Kaiba to his room. In the bedroom, Kaiba had already stripped off his shirt and was looking for some clothes to wear. As Joey came in, Kaiba turned and snapped at him, "Do you mind? I am trying to get dressed in here!"

Joey didn't seem to think twice though, as he closed the door and had a seat on the bed, saying, "Hey, it's not like there's something I didn't already see..."

Kaiba glanced over at him irritated, as he pulled out some clothes, getting ready to put his shirt on.

"Hey Kaiba, where did you get the scars?" Joey suddenly asked.

He slipped the shirt on, saying, "I had them, moron." Then looked back over at him and sneered, adding, "I thought there was nothing you haven't already seen..."

"Well...I did see them, yesterday. Just didn't get a chance to ask until now. How'd you get 'em?" Joey asked again.

Kaiba now paused, looking down in thought. "You're telling me that we're supposed to be some kind of couple, yet you never saw these scars on me before?"

"No. You never had 'em before." Joey answered.

"Wheeler...I've had them for years. They're old scars." Kaiba answered. He looked back over at Joey, saying, "So, I'm right...I'm not losing touch with reality, it's not me. The whole world might seem to insist I'm supposed to be different than I am...but you're wrong. You're all wrong."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Listen Seto, it ain't possible to have had those scars for that long. Maybe you just got temporary amnesia, or..." Joey began to say but Kaiba sharply cut him off.

"...are you listening to what I am saying? I did NOT forget anything! It's not amnesia...I have memories of what happened, but these thoughts aren't the same as everyone else. I'm not the same. Mokuba can't even remember that I learned to use a Katana, something that I clearly remember doing." Kaiba insisted.

"All right...maybe you're right. But skipping school ain't gonna solve anything. Let's go to school, then afterwards we can try and fix this." Joey said.

"No, I need to figure this out now." Kaiba answered. "Besides, it's pointless to go to school, anyway...I'm all ready two days ahead of everyone else."

Joey shook his head, asking, "Why the hell do you do that? Are you bored?"

"Once again Mutt, you're missing the point." Kaiba snapped. "Everything was fine, until yesterday morning. I went to class to hand in my papers to find out I was two days ahead of everyone else, when I clearly remembered getting those assignments yesterday. I had graded work that I showed the teacher that she graded, which was the work that was due today. She did not remember grading them. It's like I took a two-day time warp into the future. Of course, that still doesn't explain why everything seems to think I'm gay." he answered.

"You ARE gay!" Joey said, exasperated. "After last night, you're still insisting that you're not interested?"

Kaiba sighed and turned away from him, saying, "You really 'are' stupid, aren't you? Taking advantage of someone drunk and disoriented, then handcuffing me to the bed so I can't do anything about it, is hardly what I call a 'willing interest'."

"What?" Joey asked, shocked to hear Kaiba's accusation. "What are you saying, I raped you? I took advantage of you? The Kaiba at least 'I' knew wouldn't have allowed any of that, despite his condition, unless he had at least 'some' interest in it!"

Kaiba leaned heavily against the dresser after that comment, his head lowered and lacking in pride. "You have a point. Under any normal circumstances, I would be inclined to agree. But the way yesterday was going, I was beginning to doubt my own sanity. Even my own brother was telling me I was wrong. I began to doubt myself and started to believe that perhaps everyone else was right and I was wrong. After all, how could the whole world be wrong? Only now I am starting to finally see the validity that I'm not going crazy, that something truly is wrong with this world and not me...inconsistencies that should not be there."

"I'm...not sure I follow you." Joey said.

He turned towards Joey, saying, "Never mind. Go to school...let me do what I have to do."

Joey got up and approached Kaiba, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving a pouty face, saying, "Does that mean you still don't love me?" Joey looked like he could really use some kind of emotional support from Kaiba...a kiss, a hug, something.

It was something Kaiba was not willing to offer. He gave a smile, and for a change it wasn't cold...more sympathetic than anything, as he said, "Go to school, Wheeler. You're starting to remind me of the puppy I always accuse you of being."

"I don't want to stop being with you..." Joey said, sadly.

"If I can find the problem and fix it, then maybe you won't have to..." Kaiba explained, as simple as he could.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Joey went in the limo with Mokuba, as they left towards Domino High. Now that they were gone, Kaiba took the time to get dressed and look more publicly presentable. He moved over to the phone and next made a call.

"This is Mr. Tashaki. Who is this?" an elder man asked.

"Sensei...this is Seto." Kaiba said calmly.

"Ah...Seto. You are not calling to cancel for tomorrow...are you?" he asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No. Actually, I need to ask you something. This might sound strange, but...do you remember giving me lessons on the use of a Katana?"

"I do not teach sword use to my students, Seto." Tashaki answered.

"I'm aware of that, Sensei. This was a rare case. Do you ever remember teaching me?" Kaiba asked.

Tashaki said, "No, Seto...I have not taught the use of any weapons in a long time."

There was a long pause, before Kaiba finally answered, "Thank you, Sensei...that is all" and hung up the phone. Then without a second thought, Kaiba went to his limo driver and ordered him to drive him to his next location.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba got off at a hidden store deep in Domino city, and knocked on the windowless door. A thin Chinese man opened the door, asking, "Can I help you?"

"I am interested in purchasing something from Mishi." Kaiba stated and the man opened the door. All swords of various types, knives, and stars were sold in this place.

The man smiled, saying, "You like what Mishi has to offer...yes?"

Kaiba looked over at him, saying, "I was actually more interested in your hand-made katana's."

The man glared at Kaiba, saying, "Mishi doesn't make swords, only sells them!" sounding angry.

"My sensei is Tashaki...he referred me to you, Mishi." Kaiba explained.

Mishi seemed to glare at Kaiba for a long moment, asking, "Your name?"

"Seto Kaiba." he answered.

"Famous...", he smiled then turned away. "Mishi knows that Tashaki doesn't teach sword fighting to his students."

"This was a rare case." Kaiba answered, simply. It was like deja vu all over again. Almost the exact same words being repeated as he did with Mishi close to 3 years ago.

Mishi approached one of the swords he sold, pulled it off the wall, then offered the sword to him, hilt first. "So you know the Katana, huh? Then show me!"

Kaiba took the sword, stepped into the middle of the room then showed him the steps he normally did on an everyday basis. He knew when he first mastered the sword, he was probably quite nervous when he showed his example to Mishi, then. Now, it was so fluid...he might as well had been doing it for 10 years.

"You are good." Mishi said, surprising Kaiba. When he remembered doing this, Mishi said he was merely satisfactory, but still at least convincing enough. Kaiba gave the man a bow and returned the sword to him the same way. When Misi put the sword back on the wall, he said, "Come with me..."

Mishi brought him into the next room that showed 5 swords, all hand-made. They were exquisite and perfect in every way, unlike the cheap mass-produced ones that were being sold in the other room. Kaiba carefully touched the hilt of each sword...his hand finally resting on the one familiar katana that he knew was his from his own memories. Even now, this sword seemed to sing to him. He carefully drew the sword off the wall, looking it over with loving care. "So...you choose that sword?"

"Yes." Kaiba said. Kaiba gladly paid the outrageous amount of money for it, as Mishi gave him the scabbard for it, gently wrapped it in a velvet cloth, then handed it to him.

"Remember...you never bought it here." Mishi reminded him, which Kaiba nodded, understanding. He took the sword and returned back to the mansion.

Once back home, Kaiba had once again practiced with his Katana, finishing the normal exercise routine that he was accustomed to doing, before finally returning to his office. Then the rest of the day was taken trying to get as much ahead in his business as he could. In order to try to get back what he was missing, he unconsciously was trying to fix the problems that he could at least fix. He knew he could use a katana, so he bought a sword, his business was 2 day's behind him, so he would catch them up. Even if the rest of the world was still crazy, he would try to fix them so that he could be normal, again. But it still didn't explain why things were the way they were.

So, Kaiba stopped from working, taking a break for now, and took the next step. Kaiba began digging through all his past information, to find out what else was possibly different. He did find some minor differences, with enough digging. It appeared that even though Gozaburo was equally mean to him; he didn't seem to be as harshly abused...which explained the difference in why Joey never noticed the scars before. He found that out from his medical records, it didn't show nearly as many 'accidents' in Kaiba Corp's medical logs as there were supposed to be. His bed seemed to be immediately replaced, almost as soon as Gozaburo leapt to his death. In fact, his way of celebrating seemed to be entirely changing his room and wardrobe the instant he was gone...something he didn't remember doing. Kaiba remembered that he did have a drastic clothes change, but only after he came out of his coma...not before. Most other information though seemed to be pretty much the same.

So, Kaiba returned to his work. By the time he finally caught up with his two days of extra workload, Mokuba and Joey finally returned from school. The video camera showed the limo pull up as they came to the door and entered. Joey of course made enough noise to wake the dead. He came bounding upstairs first thing and began to pound on Kaiba's office door. "Hey, you in there?" he asked.

Kaiba considered giving a snide sarcastic remark, but decided otherwise and simply replied, "Enter."

Joey waltzed into the room, leaning his elbow heavily against the desk, saying, "So...what did you find out, today? Did you loose your marbles, or just your memories?"

Kaiba glared up at him and asked, "Don't you have homework to do?"

"Yeah, but I'll do it later." Joey answered. "Well?"

Directing his attention back to the computer, he answered, "I see why you don't remember the scars that are on me. My own medical records aren't showing even 1/2 the damage I sustained in the past. It's as if it never happened..." 'If only.' he thought.

"Well...what happened to you, anyway?" Joey asked.

"Never mind." Kaiba coldly answered, as Mokuba came in.

"Seto...what did you find?" Mokuba asked, worried about his brother.

Kaiba looked over at Mokuba, explaining to them. "I did the research on why you didn't seem to remember me every knowing how to use a katana. You're right...I talked to our teacher. He never taught me."

"Well, then why did you think you knew how to use one?" Mokuba asked.

"Because I do. I remember taking the courses on it, I remember purchasing a sword. I even took the same steps I remember taking to purchase one. I remembered the store, the shop owner...he's still there. I showed him the moves to prove I know how to handle one. He even admitted I'm good at it."

Mokuba's eyes widened, asking, "Really?"

"But that don't make sense!" Joey spat out. "How can you know any of this, if it never happened?"

"Exactly. And to be honest...I still can't figure it out." Kaiba admitted.

Mokuba looked down, saying, "Joey told me about you being two days ahead in school. It's kinda like the problems you were having at work, yesterday."

"Exactly. I remember talking to the same people 2 days ago, saying the same things to them. In fact, I already had information that was in my briefcase of paperwork that the secretary didn't even have a chance to give me yet. And when she did, the handwriting...everything was exact, as if she was able to manually copy her own work without even trying." Kaiba said.

"You got the duplicate? That I'd like to see..." Joey said.

Kaiba pulled from his drawer the one sheet, saying, "This is one of them." Then he grabbed his briefcase, opening it and swinging the top up. As he was reaching for the paper, his eyes caught the small details of a gold box and hesitated.

Joey peaked in, wondering what caught his attention. "Hey...what's that?"

"That...that box." Kaiba said, as he slowly reached in and picked it up, looking it over.

Mokuba looked over at him, also observing it, as he asked, "Seto...?"

As he felt and looked over the box, thoughts began to seep into his mind on events that had happened, events he had forgotten about. Mokuba was sick...Aiko came to help, he ended up in another world with his parents, he saved Mokuba, he came back, another him appeared, he had to go to another world to save Mokuba again. "Mokuba!" Kaiba suddenly cried out, and leaped from his seat...realizing his mission.

"Seto, what is it?" Mokuba asked, with growing concern.

Kaiba suddenly looked over at Mokuba, then slowly towards Joey. 'Gods...what have I done?'

He realized he first arrived here in the limo. And when it stopped fast, the hit on his head must have caused some kind of temporary memory loss, after all...but not quite the same as they thought. He was in another universe, which explained why everything was so different. And what he did last night...

Kaiba closed his eyes, unable to believe what he had done. And of all people...he was just too shocked and horrified with himself to put into words what he was thinking right, now. In fact, he didn't even want to think about it.

Finally, he snapped out of it, saying, "Nothing. Listen, why don't you two go and start making supper. I need time to think about this."

"Are you sure?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba smiled to him, saying, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Mokuba left, with Joey trailing behind. Before he left, he turned to Kaiba, saying, "Hey I, uh...suppose you still feel the same way you did this morning, huh?"

Kaiba hesitated, as he stared at Joey. He then simply turned away from him, saying nothing. He was in fact too embarrassed with himself to answer.

Joey took that as a yes, lowered his head and sulked out, closing the door behind him. Kaiba actually felt bad for making Joey feel that way, but that only scared himself even more. He refused to think of it any longer, and immediately decided to work the box. As soon as he could get out of here, he was hoping that he could forget about all this.

So much for him being better qualified than that other Seto. Then again, if he was here, he probably would have made an embarrassment to Kaiba Corp by simply dressing the way he did.

Kaiba then opened up the box and disappeared into the next reality.


	14. C14 Ultimate Sacrifice I

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. This chapter contains a warning too. A Kleenex warning! If you're not in the mood to cry you eyes out then skip chapters 14,15&16! Trust me these chapters are major tearjerkers! But be warned if you do decide to skip then later on it will be confusing as to what's going on with certain characters. But it's your choice.

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_**C14 Ultimate Sacrifice I**_

Kaiba looked around the room wearily. He was surrounded by plain white walls, floor, and ceiling, with 2 doors...one on either side. Other than that, there was nothing else in the room. Kaiba was more than familiar with exactly where he was.

"Looks like I'm in the virtual reality room...I'm definitely not in the right reality." Kaiba wondered just how many more of these worlds he would end up in, all ready beginning to feel the stress of how long and messed up he might become going through all these worlds. But he only needed a small mental reminder that it was Mokuba he was doing this for, and he was more than ready to face whatever was thrown at him once again.

Then suddenly, a square virtual reality square appeared in the middle of nothingness, showing himself on the screen, looking at him. The Kaiba screen said to him, "Mokuba, there are some unusual activities going on in Kaiba Land, which you need to investigate."

Kaiba was intrigued by the self-created simulation of himself, assuming it was a message for Mokuba. But why would the computer send a message to him, when he clearly wasn't Mokuba? Kaiba quickly looked around, wondering if maybe he wasn't alone, like he believed...yet there was clearly no Mokuba anywhere to be seen.

"Mokuba didn't you hear me? Are you okay?" Computer Kaiba asked.

Could the computer automatically sense anyone in the system, and simply assumed anyone inside must be Mokuba? That made no sense...Kaiba was never that careless with his securities. It should clearly be able to ID him as Seto Kaiba.

"Hmph...obviously there's a glitch in the program." Kaiba said, thinking, 'And why would I create a computer program with my own image?' Kaiba then commanded, "System analysis...scan for Mokuba Kaiba." Assuming he was talking to a computer.

The holographic Kaiba narrowed his eyes, immediately realizing that Kaiba was 'not' who he thought he was. In fact, if anything...this invader was just like himself, and way too much for his liking. "Who are you, and what did you do to Mokuba!" The image now demanded.

Kaiba blinked in surprise the way the computer responded to him...it definitely wasn't a computer message. He could only assume this was some kind of security device. Kaiba glared coldly at the image, snapping, "I don't need to explain myself to a computer program. Analyze voice recognition protocol."

Deciding he no longer wanted to be treated like a program, which was exactly what Kaiba was doing, the computer snapped at him, "I'm not a computer program, you idiot! You look like me, all your life signs register to be me, but you obviously can't be me... 'I' am me!"

Kaiba was taken off-guard. This was the Seto Kaiba from this world? Then that would mean the Kaiba of this world was sending a direct message to Mokuba into the virtual reality system, from wherever he was. But that didn't make sense, either. First of all...anytime Kaiba ever traveled the various dimensions, his other version always seemed to conveniently disappear, allowing him to take over that reality until he left. Secondly, if that was Kaiba of this world, then he should clearly have no problems noticing that he obviously didn't look like Mokuba!

But the only option left meant that this Seto Kaiba was in fact the computer, itself. That might at least explain how the Seto Kaiba of this universe didn't disappear. But it still didn't explain why Kaiba was IDed incorrectly.

Kaiba looked confused, but quickly contained his cold glare. He was going to get to the bottom of this. He crossed his arms, asking, "Are you trying to tell me that 'you're' Seto Kaiba?"

"I believe I just said that!" The other snarled back, also crossing his arms, becoming almost a mirror image of the first.

"All right...let's say you are. Then explain to me 'why' would I do something as idiotic as shove myself inside my own computer system!"

"Hmph...why should I tell you anything?" the computer asked him.

Kaiba stated, "Simple. If you really are me, then you would know that first of all...I have no escape here without you letting me go. Then the most important reason is if I don't get the answers I want, then I wont tell you anything, as well."

"I could simply lie." the computer stated.

Kaiba smirked. "And so could I..."

The computer Kaiba considered what the first one was saying. Finally, he decided it wasn't worth the permanent stalemate. This strange other version of him had a point...he had nowhere to go. And he wanted answers...he wanted to know where Mokuba was, and where this other Seto Kaiba came from. So with a sigh, computer Kaiba answered, "I did it for Mokuba..."

"...I don't understand." Kaiba answered. "How would sticking yourself inside a machine help Mokuba?" With a second thought, Kaiba suddenly added with greater concern, "Is something wrong with him?"

"It's a long story." Computer Kaiba answered. "Besides...I believed I asked the questions first. It's now your turn. Who are you, and what did you do with Mokuba!"

Kaiba answered. "Incase you couldn't figure it out yet, I'm you. The reason there's another you is because I'm not from this world." The instant Kaiba said that, he clearly identified the obvious disbelieving look on the other's face.

Kaiba snapped, "Look...I got an item that took me here. I'm trying to find one particular dimension in which Noah's a danger to Mokuba and save him. The problem is it doesn't offer me any way of knowing if I'm in the right dimension or not. And I haven't even seen your Mokuba, so how could I have done anything with him?"

Computer Kaiba looked away...at least the last part made enough sense. There would be no way of anyone doing anything to Mokuba without him knowing. A minute ago...Mokuba 'was' here, and now this 'other him' was. There was no trace of technology that did this...it just happened. "I guess it makes partial sense." he admitted. But he still had the dilemma of finding Mokuba, now.

"I believe it's your turn." Kaiba added. "Why did you think that Mokuba was in the room? That doesn't make any sense."

Of course this supposed version of himself wouldn't know what happened. Again, he gave an untrusting glare at Kaiba, considering not telling him anything. But, after talking with him for the few minutes he did, he could clearly tell it was him...or some version of him. No one could mirror him so well. No one.

And if that was him, then what Kaiba said made some sense. Maybe it was all the truth. And even if it wasn't...he would never do anything to harm or endanger Mokuba. Perhaps explaining to him would help find Mokuba. At the very least, perhaps his story to Kaiba would help bring a warning to him in order to help him protect his own Mokuba...or one from another world. It couldn't hurt.

...plus, he had been so alone. It was almost good to talk to someone again...even himself.

Computer Kaiba's glare became a smirk as he compared his own history to this Kaiba and realized it would probably sound just unbelievable, if not more so. He materialized a seat for the other Kaiba to sit down, saying, "You might as well have a seat...this might take awhile."

Kaiba was surprised this computer version of him didn't put up much of a fight to tell him anything. But he said nothing, ready to listen. After all...knowledge was power.

Computer Kaiba started his history lesson, saying, "It all started three years ago..."

/Flashback/

Kaiba sat in the ambulance, as he looked over at his brother lying next to him. He continued to wonder how everything managed to fall apart so quickly. It was only a week ago when Mokuba was jumping around, laughing with him, as he always did. Then he seemed to catch some kind of cough and stayed home for a day. The next day, his fever had dangerously peaked and he was having trouble breathing, being forced into the hospital. The doctors told him he had a deadly disease that was fatal. There was nothing they could do about it...nothing no amount of money could buy to save his brother. Once again, Kaiba was forced to take matters into his own hands to save his brother.

From the hospital, he had the ambulance drive Mokuba back home, still hooked up. They didn't expect him to survive another week, even 'on' life support. But Kaiba would be damned that he would allow even fate itself to take the only thing in this world that really truly mattered to him. He knew what he had to do...and didn't hesitate to act on it.

Mokuba was carried to Kaiba's Virtual Reality chamber and quickly hooked up to it. He then ordered everyone away, leaving himself alone with his brother. Last night, he already made any and all necessary changes he felt would be necessary. He was certain with Mokuba's help and time; he would be able to complete anything else that he needed to do. Kaiba walked over to his brother and smiled, saying, "Forget it Mokuba, I'm not letting you get away from me that easily. You still have a life to live and I'm going to make sure you live it...one way or another. I made a promise to you and that's something I plan on keeping."

Mokuba had no idea how long he had been out, but it felt like forever. He felt tired and drained. His hand weakly came up and grabbed onto the strange walls around his bed...he quickly realized it was the Virtual Reality Chamber he was inside of and not his bed at all. Strange though, it felt more crowded, somehow. He stumbled up out of the chamber and for some reason his very movements felt awkward to him. "What the..." he began to say and stopped...even his voice was off today. But then he noticed someone else was using a pod, as well. This someone was hooked up to wires and everything. As he approached, he had the worst feeling come over him, hearing a single high-pitched noise that was constant from the machine that was hooked up to this other body. As he approached it, he paled. It was...it was...

"AHHH!" Mokuba cried out, backing away. "Why am I laying there!" It was his own body lying there, hooked up to a heart machine that was telling him there was no pulse and he was dead. "Is this some kind of horrible nightmare? Someone wake me up!" he panicked with a voice that was still sounding weird, but at the moment he was still too panicked to think straight. He immediately began to wonder if he was having an 'out of body' experience. 'Am I a spirit? Am I dead?' He looked over himself and immediately noticed something very wrong...he was wearing a suit and his hands looked very big, with very thin and long defining fingers that kind of reminded him of...

Mokuba immediately rushed to the nearest mirror and looked at himself. Again, Mokuba screamed, backing away, yelling, "This isn't funny, anymore! I don't wanna be in this dream!" He looked like his brother. In fact, Mokuba pinched himself in an attempt to wake up and found it to be very painful. That's when it finally began to hit him...this was no dream, this was real. "But...that doesn't make any sense. If I'm in this body, then where is..."

Mokuba gasped and ran to his dead limp form, shaking it violently, "Seto, Seto, wake up! You can't be dead, you just can't! I don't understand any of this! Why did you leave me like this...WHY!" Mokuba crumpled on the floor on his knees and began to cry and sob.

This lasted a good 15 minutes of constant crying, feeling his brother was gone, forever dead...and he didn't know why. But as he continued to think of what happened and why he woke up like this, trying to figure it out, he began to realize that if his brother did anything rash, the least he would do was leave him with 'something', explaining to him what transpired. He weakly got up and moved over to the main control room that on-looked the VR chairs. Sure enough, on the computer's monitor there was a typed-in letter.

Mokuba...I'm sure by the time you wake up, you'll be very confused over what transpired. You were in the hospital, dying. You did not have a cold, but some kind of deadly disease. They estimated you had no more than a week to live. That was unacceptable. I only had one option left. And so, I give to you the only thing left I have to give...my own life for yours. I know you wont be happy with this decision, but please do not make my sacrifice to you any harder than it is. Make me proud...Seto.

Mokuba began bawling again in tears, "Why, Seto? Why did you have to kill yourself for me? It's not fair!"

Mokuba continued to sob on the console, punching at the keyboard. Accidentally, it caused the message to scroll upwards and Mokuba realized there were some other words he missed, since they weren't on the screen at the time, but they scrolled up too fast to read them. He quickly scrolled them back down to get Seto's 'PS' message.

PS: Don't worry Mokuba, I'm not dead...I'm in the machine.

"WHAT!" Mokuba cried out loud, then looked over at the still active VR unit. "Seto..."

Quickly, Mokuba jumped back on and hooked himself up. It was an awkward fit for him though, because he was inside his brother's body. It only took a moment for him to activate it, and got sucked into the machine.

In this VR unit, the soul of the person became who they are...and Mokuba looked normal again. He looked around the scattered trees and rolling hills, finding no sight of who he was looking for. So, Mokuba put his hand up to his mouth and yelled out, "Seto! Seto, where are you!"

In an instant, Mokuba witnessed the computer creation from pixels pulled from nowhere, taking on the shape of his brother. Kaiba looked down at his brother, and smiled. "Mokuba...I see you got my message. How are you feeling, kiddo?"

Mokuba immediately began the waterworks again and ran to him, hugging him tightly. "I thought you were dead!"

Kaiba held him tight, so glad to hear Mokuba's voice again...everything was worth it. "You should know better, little brother. It takes more than that to take down a Kaiba...even fate, itself."

Mokuba didn't feel any better, though. If anything, he was angry and pulled away. Still tearing, he yelled at him, "How could you do that? How could you throw yourself in there and give me your body? That's not right, Seto! I have no right to have what belongs to you! I can't let you do this!"

The softness from Kaiba's eyes quickly hardened, as he crossed his arms and turned away. "You of all people should understand my reasons. I had sworn to protect you...I keep my promises. This is just another game and every game has its sacrifice. There was nothing left to sacrifice this time, so I had to offer myself. My final act to you, Mokuba. And you 'will' live your life it's fullest. Maybe you're forced to grow up a little quicker than either of us wanted, but at least you'll still have the chance to live your life."

"But what about 'your' life, Seto? What right do I have to steal away your life, when..."

"YOU ARE MY LIFE!" Kaiba snapped back, glaring down at him with those cold eyes. "I have given you the greatest gift I can offer you, Mokuba...don't you dare throw it back in my face!"

More tears came out, as Mokuba fell to his knees. "Seto, but...if I'm in your body, they'll expect me to be you. How can I be you!"

This snapped Kaiba back to himself again, once again keeping his rage in check. He calmly said, "It won't be too much of a problem...together we can do this. I've already arranged some tutors to start schooling you, since you will no longer be able to go to middle school, anymore. You'll have to learn your hardest. Don't worry about any of the paperwork. Together we're going to connect this computer system to totally integrate it to Kaiba Corp, networking them together as one. I will take care of all the necessary paperwork that I receive and print it out for you. If anything, by my being in here, it'll make me even more efficient to the company and even help route out any spies working for us. But you're going to have to start learning to properly talk for me at the meetings, from now on. I don't expect you to act like me...I can't run your life. It's time you decide to be who you want to be. You'll need to take on my name, but that doesn't mean you have to take on my personality. I trust you, Mokuba...and I know you'll make the right decisions in your life."

"No, but...there's got to be a better way than this!" Mokuba cried. He then stopped talking and smiled, saying, "Seto! Maybe you can also come in and we can share this body of yours. Kind of like Yugi and, well...the 'other' Yugi. If he can do it, why can't we!"

Kaiba snickered, shaking his head. "I'm sure turning into a sqitzo would really help Kaiba Corp. out. If that wouldn't drive the company out of business, it would surely put the both of us in the nearest insane asylum, in no time. No, I'm afraid that wouldn't work. Plus, I don't intend on sharing your life, Mokuba. That would cause me to become far too influential in things you would and wouldn't want to do. You need to be able to make your own mistakes, without me being there to stop you. Besides, eventually you're going to find someone special in your life...and then what? Do you expect me to share her, too? It won't work, so just forget about it."

Mokuba sighed, saying, "Seto...thank you." Mokuba wanted to say more...he wanted to scream at his brother and demand he change back. He wanted to fix the computer to force them to switch. But his brother would only find a way to switch back and make sure it's permanent that time. And also, he knew this decision was hard enough for his big brother. He didn't want to make it hurt even more for him. So he would respect his brother's sacrifice, which was the only way he could think of to make his brother feel better, and do as he wanted. But Mokuba continued to wonder how Seto expected him to enjoy a life that wasn't even his to live?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba's death was in the papers that morning, as his body was brought from his home to be properly buried. His picture was in the newspaper, which was written about his death, after his attempted fight with the deadly disease. The service for him was that afternoon and all of Yugi's friends showed to mourn their friend. They were all very shocked to see that Kaiba did not show up to his own brother's funeral that day.

Joey just shook his head, spouting, "That creep...what kind of brother doesn't show up to his only family's funeral? Doesn't he care?"

"Kaiba's probably mourning Mokuba in his own way." Yugi said, trying to defend him. "He did bring Mokuba that night to be comfortable at his home before he died. You gotta give him that much."

The other silently agreed, hoping that was the case. Yet, Joey still didn't seem to believe it, turning away from Mokuba, muttering, "Man Mokuba, I really feel sorry for you. To have a brother like that, you really deserved better..."

It was later in the afternoon, when they finally got back. Everyone was very quiet and moody after getting back from the funeral. Joey finally broke the silence, saying, "I'm 1/2 tempted to go over there right now and give that creep a piece of my mind!"

"Come on, Joey...maybe Yugi's right about why Kaiba didn't show up." Tristan said.

"That's bullshit! There was no reason for him not to show. It only proves that he really was the lousy brother for Mokuba I always figured he was. There was no reason for it!" Joey continued to rant. But the phone ringing broke his ranting.

Yugi reached over and picked it up, saying, "Hello? Kaiba!"

"Kaiba!" Tea asked.

"What does 'he' want!" Joey demanded.

Yugi immediately brought his hand up for them to quiet, as Yugi continued, saying, "Now, Kaiba...calm down. It's not your fault, how can you say that!" That immediately shut the others up, as they stared at Yugi on the phone. "Kaiba...you can't help what happened to Mokuba. This could have happened to anyone. Uh...are you sure? We don't mind, but...okay. We'll be over. I'll see you soon, then." Yugi then hung up and continued to stare at the phone, as if he just had a close encounter of the third kind, over the phone.

"Yugi, what did he say!" Tristan asked.

"He invited us all to come over to his house." Yugi said, still looking pretty freaked out. "Guys...Kaiba's taking this 'really' bad."

"How so?" Tea asked.

"He was insisting that it was his fault for Mokuba's death and he was...crying on the phone." Yugi said.

"Well, his brother did just die. You can expect him to maybe cry a little over this." Tristan said.

"Yeah, but that was more than I'd expect to ever hear Kaiba sound like. I mean, he was outright bawling on the phone. I didn't think Kaiba was capable...it just sounded so weird from him." Yugi said.

"Well, what are we all waiting for!" Joey immediately said. "This I gotta see!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The butler let the group in. Yugi asked, "So, where's Kaiba?"

From the question, the butler looked awkward and nodded, "He's in the living room...that way." Immediately after, he b-lined it the opposite way, as if desperately trying to avoid Kaiba.

They slowly walked to the living room, to see Seto Kaiba on the couch, with a box of Kleenex on the coffee table, tissue in hand, still crying his eyes out, like a child. Everyone stood and stared, not sure how to react to it.

In-between sniffles; Kaiba realized that Yugi's group was nearby and waved to them, sniffing pitifully, "Over here, guys."

They approached cautiously, not sure how to react, all of them carefully finding seats as far away from Kaiba, as possible. He sniffed again, saying, "Thanks for coming...I really appreciate it."

"All right, who the hell are you!" Joey immediately asked.

"Cut it out, Joey!" Tea snapped. Tea had never seen Kaiba act like this and for once it was like a breath of fresh air to her. Maybe Kaiba really 'was' human in there, somewhere. "Can't you see the guy is hurting? He doesn't need this right now from you."

"It's gonna be okay, Kaiba. We're...we're here for ya." Tristan stuttered out his attempted support, trying not to look too freaked out at Kaiba looking like this. It was very awkward to see, making Tristan almost...uncomfortable. Kaiba being emotional...too weird.

"No, you don't get it! I...don't know what to do, guys. My brother...my brother...it's all my fault he's like this, now!" Kaiba said and began to outright bawl again, like he was on the phone.

If the group wasn't freaked out before, they were now. Everyone shut up and just stared at him, like he was an alien. Kaiba calmed down a bit, now sniffing and hiccupping, saying, "I...I just don't know what to do. I can't do this without him. He's always been with me. I feel so helpless..."

"Yeah, well...we knew he meant a lot to ya, Kaiba. We just never really realized how much. I mean...wow. He really was the one to hold ya together, wasn't he!" Joey asked, observing Kaiba with almost fascination.

"Joey!" Yugi scolded, then turned to Kaiba, saying, "But Kaiba, it's not your fault what happened to Mokuba. You tried your best to make him happy. Maybe he's in a better place, now."

At that moment, Kaiba became angry and they fearfully believed he was beginning to snap back to normal. He snapped out at them, "Don't you get it yet? You guys keep calling me Kaiba...do I act like Seto to you? Do I!"

"Well...you are acting a bit out of the ordinary, Kaiba. But after what happened to Mokuba, that's understandable." Yugi said.

"You're wrong! Seto would never act like this! He'd never cry in front of anyone, no matter what happened to him...you guys should know that!" Kaiba yelled at them.

"Hey, don't get mad at us that you started bawling in front of us. We're here to support ya!" Joey snapped back.

"Grrr...I'm not Seto! I'm Mokuba!" Kaiba snapped back at him.


	15. C15 Ultimate Sacrifice II

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199 but added to before and after the flash back by me and edited and added to by Clarity. This chapter contains a warning too. A Kleenex warning! If you're not in the mood to cry you eyes out then skip chapters 14,15&16! Trust me these chapters are major tearjerkers! But be warned if you do decide to skip then later on it will be confusing as to what's going on with certain characters. 

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C15 Ultimate Sacrifice II**_

Once again, everyone was staring at him strangely. Joey said, "Okay...he snapped. Time to get the guys in white outfits over here with a butterfly net."

"Will you listen to me? Seto knew I was dying, so he used his Virtual Reality Machine to switch my body with his!" Mokuba snapped. At that point, he began to cry again, as he continued to say, "He sacrificed everything just so I can be alive and have a chance to live my life...but it's not fair! It's his body, not mine! It's not fair for him to do what he did...I don't deserve it!"

"Listen Kaiba, we know you're hurting. But pretending to be Mokuba ain't gonna bring him back..." Joey said.

"No Joey, I think that really IS Mokuba!" Yugi said.

"But that would mean..." Tristan said and paled.

"Oh my god!" Tea exclaimed.

Joey froze at that moment...he couldn't believe what was being said, what that meant. "That means Kaiba died in order to make sure you're alive. He sacrificed his life for you."

"No...it's worse than that. He sacrificed his humanity for me. Guys...Seto's alive, but...he's inside the Virtual Reality computer...kinda like Noah was. He's still alive, but he's condemned himself to live his life in a machine. It's not fair!" the Kaiba body cried.

Everyone stayed quiet and Kaiba continued to cry. Yugi finally said, "Mokuba...do you want me to try and talk to him?"

"I don't know if that'll do any good." Mokuba said. "He made up his mind. If I try and send people in there to argue against what he did, I'd only be dishonoring his sacrifice. I don't want him to feel any worse than he might already feel. I just wish I could do something for him."

"Well...I'll tell him you didn't bring me there to talk to him about that. You told me what happened and I told you I'd only see him to...visit him and make sure he's okay. How about that?" Yugi asked.

"I...I guess..." Mokuba muttered. "Maybe we can all go in, to visit him. Maybe he'd like the support for a change and realize he's not alone and we're all here for him." Mokuba said, brightening a bit.

"No offense Mokuba, but you gotta stop acting all emotional like you normally do. You have no idea how weird that looks on 'his' face." Joey said. At that, Tea smacked him again. "Ow!"

It wasn't long before everyone was hooked up and Mokuba activated the machine, thrusting them all into the VR simulation area.

They were in an open field; with trees in various areas...they could see a village not too far from them in one direction. "Do we go to the village?" Yugi asked.

"No, that'll trigger a game to start." Mokuba answered.

"Hey, how come you look like Mokuba? Are you really Kaiba!" Joey asked.

Mokuba gave him a look like he was stupid, saying, "You become in this world who you are on the inside. I may look like Seto on the outside, after what he did...but I'm still Mokuba."

"So, he will look like Kaiba in this world!" Tristan asked.

"Well, he should...but then, he's part of the computer now. Technically, he could make himself look like whomever he wants to look like." Mokuba said.

"Mokuba..." a voice said out of nowhere. Everyone turned to see Kaiba at the top of a hill, looking down at them. "What are 'they' doing here!" he questioned, accusingly.

"Kaiba..." Yugi said, looking up at him. "Uh...Mokuba told us what happened. That was...a very brave and noble thing to do."

"Hmph. No one asked for your opinion, Yugi. This is between my brother and me." Kaiba told him.

'That's the Kaiba we know.' Joey thought, feeling almost refreshed for the moment to see the normal Kaiba, after watching Mokuba break down in the real world.

"But, Seto...it's not just between you and me. I thought they should know too, cause I know this is gonna be tough for me to do this alone..." Mokuba said his head down.

"Don't say that! You're not alone, you'll never have to be alone!" Kaiba said, his heart ached, looking at his brother. He wanted to say so much more to him, but didn't feel comfortable doing so in front of the others. "We'll figure this out...we'll do it together. I'm still here for you and I always will be."

"But now that Mokuba looks like you, he has a greater chance of being in danger. After all, everyone will think he's you. Even you can't help him with that, in the present state you're in. Maybe we can help on that end!" Tristan said.

Kaiba paused for the longest moment. As much as he hated to admit, it...perhaps he was right. Kaiba sighed, saying, "Fine...what do you suggest?"

"Maybe the two of you can share bodies!" Yugi suddenly suggested, excitedly.

Kaiba shook his head, saying, "Why I am not surprised to have you, of all people, suggest such a ridiculous thing? Mokuba, explain to these fools why that wouldn't work."

"Because as long as you're sharing my body, I wouldn't be able to live my life." Mokuba said, trying not to sound sad. Obviously, it was a suggestion that already came up.

"But Kaiba, he can't do this on his own." Yugi said. "He doesn't know as much as you do. He can't pull this off, himself. He's still in middle school!"

"He's going to be tutored...that was already taken care of. I can still deal with the paperwork side of the corporation, without a problem. As for the human side of it...Mokuba is smarter than he thinks. I know he can do this...he just has to have faith in himself." Kaiba looked down at his brother, whose eyes began to water.

"But Kaiba..." Yugi began to protest, but Kaiba heard enough.

"If that's all you came here for, then you're wasting my time. Get out." Kaiba said and instantly dispersed himself into a million bits that faded to nothing. Before they could say more, everything became black again.

They woke up back in the pods. MK sighed, "He kicked us out."

(MK Mokuba/Kaiba)

"Sorry Mokuba, I wish we could do more..." Yugi said.

"Hey guys, could...you stay over? Just for tonight? Please!" MK begged, making him look real weird with sad puppy dog eyes. Joey immediately looked away, so he wouldn't start laughing at him.

Yugi smiled, saying, "Sure, why not!"

x-x-x-x-x-x

That night, another person entered the VR computer, once again.

"I thought I told you to leave!" Kaiba's voice snapped at him, though he was not seen, yet.

This time Yami was there, arms crossed defiantly. "Kaiba...face me!"

Kaiba materialized next to him, saying, "Fine. Why are you still here?"

"Mokuba asked us to stay over the night, so he wouldn't be alone. He doesn't know I'm here." Yami said.

Kaiba crossed his hands, saying, "Then say what's on your mind and get it over with."

"Mokuba is afraid to say what he is feeling right now, because he doesn't want to upset you. But seeing you like this...it's hurting him, Kaiba. He can't bare to see you this way." Yami explained.

"That's too bad, because he's going to have to live with it. The only other options are to steal part of his life by sharing it with me, or taking his life from him and throwing him here. Both options are unacceptable. I will not have it." Kaiba answered coldly.

"You say you don't want Mokuba to live your life, yet what do you expect him to do looking like you? People are going to expect him to be you!" Yami said.

"I don't care what people want of him, he's not me...and he's not going to be me. Mokuba is now considered an adult, who can do what he wants. The hardest part of this is knowing that I am going to force him to grow up a little faster than I wanted him to. But since his other options were death or worse...I think we can both live with this minor sacrifice for him. He will have to start making decisions on what to do with his life. Whether he wants to or not, he'll figure out what to do and live with them. Whatever they are, I will support him." Kaiba said.

"But what if his decision doesn't rotate around Kaiba, Corp? What if he doesn't want anything to do with the business? Don't tell me it doesn't bother you if he decides to let the corporation crumble, in order to find his true path." Yami stated.

Kaiba's eyes closed, as he quietly answered, "It doesn't...not if that's what he wants to do. That's why I couldn't be a part of him, Yugi. Because if that's not his path, I would keep him from going his own way. He's free, now...free from my shadow, from me. If Kaiba Corp goes down, then it goes down...as long as he's happy and complete, that's all that matters."

"But if Kaiba Corp goes down...so do you. You live in these machines, now. If the machines go down..." Yami warned him.

"...I know. I don't care. My life is over, Yugi. His life is all that matters, now." Kaiba said, turning away.

"How can you say that!" Yami cried out. "You deserve the right to live, just as much as he does! There's got to be another option!"

"There is no other option!" Kaiba snapped. "Listen, I don't care if you don't like my decision...it's already been made and I plan to follow it through, no matter what you say. I was fully aware of the consequences to me what would happen if I did this, and I didn't care."

Yami retorted, "But by doing this, you have condemned yourself into being nothing more than some...video game to be used and cast away at any time! Kaiba...I know the feeling of being locked away from everyone and everything. I have once lived that way for 3000 years, until Yugi found me. But even 'I' hadn't lived a fate such as this. If your confinement is deactivated at any time...you could fail to exist."

"Tell me something I don't know." Kaiba muttered. "You can say what you want to me, but it's not going to change my mind. I don't regret my decision...not for a second. If the same decision came up, I would do it again. I have lived my entire life making sure that Mokuba could be happy...and now I have given everything I had in order to finalize that promise. I owe him that much."

Yami's eyes narrowed as he stated, "You owe him? Even now to this day, you're still trying to punish yourself because of the Death-T, aren't you? You don't deserve this, Kaiba...no matter how much you 'think' you do!"

"Enough!", Kaiba snapped, glaring back down at Yami. "I don't care what you think! And I am certainly not going to sit here and be badgered by you or anyone else, no matter how much anyone's against it! Now get out...and this time, don't come back."

"Kaiba..." Yami said, still frantically wanting to get through to Kaiba. It wasn't just Kaiba and what he said that affected Yami so, but Yami's own personal experiences that he had gone through, and dreaded the idea of anyone going through something as similar as himself. Especially, someone he knew...someone he believed to be his friend.

Kaiba had dispersed and once again thrust Yami back into reality.

x-x-x-x-x-x

From then on, Mokuba learned to adjust to running Kaiba Corporation and everyone seeing him as Seto Kaiba. Mokuba was also heavily tutored, until he was up to a high enough education standing to run a company and look competent. Mokuba worked together with his brother and achieved in connecting all their computer systems into one, in order to give Kaiba more freedom and control over his new world. The mansion, their emergency systems, all the Kaiba Lands out there, and both Kaiba Corp Japan and USA were inter-connected. During the time this was done, the high reps of Kaiba Corp pleaded with MK that by combining the system, he was inviting hackers to do some serious damage. Because if a virus was successful to get in to the system, it could cripple the company by being inter-connected.

Not wanting to inform anyone of what was really happening, MK claimed to have invented a special anti-virus program that no one could infiltrate, no matter what. Mokuba had no fear of that whatsoever, knowing that their computer system was no longer a simple machine...it was a living entity it was his brother. And no mere computer virus would get passed him. He was beyond a firewall...he was an immovable fortress.

Kaiba also helped his brother in the paper work side, which was scanned, to the computer for him to work-on, while doing what he could to give him pointers to run the business. It was all he could do now, since he was no longer in the real world to be there for him.

Everyone at the company and in the public eye noticed the changes in who they thought to be Seto Kaiba. He seemed softer and kinder, but people assumed that it was the death of his little brother that affected him so greatly...never realizing it 'was' in fact his little brother.

Mokuba had trouble adjusting to these changes at first. At night, he would sleep in the VR system where Kaiba was, making him feel safer and secure. Kaiba certainly didn't complain...this became the best times for him, because he would be sharing his time with Mokuba, even if his brother was asleep. The hardest part about it was that Seto could not feel him. He could make himself feel solid and real to anyone else that appeared in the VR world. But he was nothing more than computer inputs, now...he lost the ability to feel his brother physically, like he was able to do when he was flesh and blood. That hurt him more than anything, but he wouldn't tell Mokuba. He wouldn't tell him the terrible loneliness he felt, the depression he would go into, the times he began to feel like he was losing his sanity. He couldn't tell Mokuba...he made this sacrifice for him. If he told his brother he was miserable, it would only hurt him. His brother Mokuba...the one person he could always tell anything to, he now had to keep secrets from him, for both their sakes.

And as time continued to pass, Mokuba began to see his brother less and less. He had a lot of work to do for Kaiba Corp, a lot of press coverage to get through, meetings, dinner reservations, friends to see, a new girlfriend to meet. Soon enough, the only time they were seeing with each other was when Mokuba needed projects done for Kaiba Corp, and scanned those files to his brother. But it was business, not pleasure. And soon enough, Mokuba began to look upon his brother more like a piece of program, and less of a big brother who gave literally everything to him.

(End Flashback)

"So, that was the reason you thought I was Mokuba." Kaiba muttered. "Since he had now taken over your body."

CKaiba nodded.

"At least it sounds like he adjusted well." Kaiba muttered.

"He's dealt with it over time, but it's still not always easy for him. He was only 14 when it happened. But seeing what his other option was, I'd say he's doing great, in comparison."

Kaiba nodded his head in understanding. "But because of this matter, you haven't been able to talk to him, either. That means you have no one." Kaiba only knew himself too well. Mokuba was the only person he had ever trusted. He can't see himself opening up to anyone. And being stuck inside a computer with no one, it could probably be quite maddening over time.

It didn't help that his Mokuba also almost died from a rare disease, which he still attempted to convince himself never happened. But being in various realities had a way of convincing him otherwise.

Computer Kaiba avoided Kaiba's gaze now, and shrugged. "There's been someone else I've been talking to, on occasion."

"Who?", Kaiba asked.

Computer Kaiba sighed now as he admitted, "Wheeler ended up coming over one day and wouldn't leave me alone, until I at least considered him as an option to discuss things with."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, as a flash of memory from the last ultimate dimension came to mind...him and Joey together. He shook the thoughts away quickly, and asked, "Why would he come over here in the first place, unless he knew something..."

Kaiba was right...computer Kaiba was trying to hide that part. But afterwards, he decided what's the sense. At least talking to him was like talking to someone who would best understand his situation, without fear of pity from the other. He nodded, and said, "It happened not to long after I started to have less time talking to Mokuba..."

(Flashback)

One particular day, Yugi ended up at the arcade with his friends. Yugi and Tristan were playing games next to each other, while talking. "Hey Yugi, have you heard from Mokuba, lately? Oh, I mean...Kaiba? I wonder how they're doing..."

"I don't know, I haven't heard from them. I guess, uh...'Kaiba' has been going through a lot of tutoring to get to his proper age level. I guess he has a whole lot of adjustments to go through..." Yugi said.

Since Mokuba became his brother, Yugi's group were trying to talk about him like he was Kaiba, incase anyone might overhear their conversation, and wonder why they were talking about Mokuba like he was alive. But they were still having trouble doing so.

"Damn, I lost!" Tristan said. He looked around and said, "Hey, Joey's on the VR game system. I wonder what he's playing?"

"I don't know." Yugi said, pulling himself from his game. "Let's find out."

"Hey Yugi, what about your game?" Tristan asked.

Yugi smiled, saying, "Don't worry about it...someone will pick it up." They walked away and as they did, the game began to play by itself, taking out the monsters like nothing.

Joey appeared in a field, hooked up with a duel disk and his cards. "All right bad guys, let's see whatcha got!"

A Giant Rat quickly attacked Joey. "I'll pick Axe Raider, in attack mode!" The Axe Raider took out the giant rat, but his destruction caused a labyrinth wall to appear and surrounded him. "Oh great, a labyrinth maze. Now I gotta get through this to get outta here." As he walked, his monster hit a trap and got destroyed. "No, my Axe Raider!" That same moment a Wall Shadow appeared to attack Joey directly.

"La Jinn, attack that Wall Shadow!" a voice called behind Joey. A LaJinn suddenly came forth and took out the Wall Shadow.

"Wow, that was close." Joey said and turned to see a kid, smirking at him. He looked like he was only about 14, with short light brown hair, brown eyes, and supporting his own duel disk. "Say, who are you? Are you part of this game?"

"Do I look like it?" the kid snapped, but his mood quickly changed, seeming to be a light-hearted kid. He smiled innocently, saying, "Sorry. The name is Kasey...I'm in the seat next to you and jumped on your game. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all...the more the merrier." Joey smiled. "That was a pretty good monster you threw at 'em. But we're gonna need some pretty strong monsters to make it through this maze. If we're in a labyrinth wall, then no doubt they'll have some labyrinth tanks floating around here."

"I'm sure it's nothing I...'we' can't handle." he smiled up at Joey.

"You sound awfully confident for a little kid." Joey smirked; hearing the first thing Kasey was beginning to say, before he changed it.

"Well, you can say I'm used to playing alone a lot. I normally count only on myself." Kasey answered. "Come on, let's get going."

"So I guess you have no siblings then, huh?" Joey asked, as they began to walk the maze.

"Well...I..." The kid stuttered. "I have a brother. But we've been rather distant, lately. He has his own life, now."

"Yeah, I know how that is. I got a sister, myself. My parents are separated, so we don't really get to see each other that much. It's kinda hard at times, but just knowing that they're out there and thinking of you...it really helps." Joey said, thinking of his sister.

"Yeah...I suppose." the kid said, sounding rather depressed. Suddenly a Millennium Golem appeared.

Joey cried, "I call forth Buster Blader! Attack that Golem!" Buster Blader took down the Millennium Golem, as they continued on. "So, why so down? You two fighting or something?"

"No, it's just that we're...very distant. It feels like we're a world away. Even when he comes to visit on occasion, it's like I can't get near him. Things just aren't the same, anymore. I...I don't wanna talk about it." he said.

"Hey, you shouldn't be afraid to talk about these things. It's good to let it out, sometimes. You keep it bottled up inside, you'll end up going crazy. Just take it from Joey Wheeler, here...I know something about crazy, believe me." Joey joked.

"Yes, I can definitely believe that. Then again, you have to have a brain first, to be able to be insane." The kid answered. Joey glared down at the kid, but the kid had such a cute laugh from his joke to Joey, he couldn't be mad at the kid.

"Yeah, well...you should show some respect to yer elders, kid. I may not be the smartest kid around, but I bet I can kick some butt compared to what you study at school." Joey said.

The kid looked away, hiding a smile, as he said, "Yeah, I guess you got me there." At that moment, two labyrinth tanks appeared.

Joey said, "Uh-oh...this ain't good. I might be okay with my Buster Bladder, but you're outta your league with that LaJinn."

"Not a problem." the kid smirked. "Just watch a master duelist at work." He pulled a card and announced, "I draw Thunder Dragon, and then discard it to the Graveyard. In accordance with its special ability, I can now draw 2 more Thunder Dragons. I will then use Polymerization to fuse them together, creating the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon. And...with a dragon on the field, your Buster Blader also gains a 500-attack boost. Now my dragon, attack that Labyrinth Tank!"

"Buster Blader, take out the other Labyrinth Tank!" Joey ordered and both were destroyed. "Oh, yeah!" Joey cheered and looked over at the kid, who was giving an almost cold sneer at the area he destroyed the monster. "Hey, you know kid...we make a pretty good team."

The kid's face became a blank and quickly turned away from Joey's view, as he answered, "Uh...yeah. We make a great team."

"Hey, look! We're out of the labyrinth!" Joey cried. They both came out of the labyrinth and were not too far from the city.

"So, are we continuing on our adventure?" Kasey asked.

"Well...it's getting late. I can't spend too much time on this. How about we cut it short and duel each other. Care for a real challenge?" Joey asked.

"If I was looking for a real challenge, then why would I fight you?" the kid teased, as he laughed.

"Ha ha...very funny, kid. I think I should have you know that you happened to be playing 'the' Joey Wheeler: one of the top known dueling finalists of every tournament since Duelist Kingdom." Joey bragged. "If you aren't careful, I might end up creaming you for good."


	16. C16 Ultimate Sacrifice III

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. This chapter contains a warning too. A Kleenex warning! If you're not in the mood to cry you eyes out then skip chapters 14,15&16! Trust me these chapters are major tearjerkers! But be warned if you do decide to skip then later on it will be confusing as to what's going on with certain characters. 

x-x-x-x-x-x -xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C16 Ultimate Sacrifice III**_

The kid seemed to be trying to stifle a laugh, saying, "If you say so. Let's just duel and get this over with."

"You don't believe me. Well, then I guess I'm gonna have to duel ya to prove it." Joey said.

The two were dueling and Joey was shocked...he was getting his butt kicked by a kid. "Man, this is embarrassing. Maybe I was a little too overconfident or something, and didn't play my hardest...that's gotta be it."

"Or maybe you're just not as good as you pretend to be." the kid smirked. "This next turn I'm gonna stomp you, Wheeler...not that you had a chance in the first place, but it'll still be amusing." The kid pulled his card and looked at it. It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon. 'Damn, I can't use this...I need a substitute.' he thought and blinked his eyes.

"Hey, I think there's a glitch in the system...it felt like the whole screen just blinked for second, or something..." Joey said.

"I didn't notice anything." Kasey said. "I summon forth Lord of Dragons in attack mode!"

"Is that it?" Joey asked.

With an evil grin, the kid sneered, "No..."

Joey gulped at that moment, worried what was coming next.

"I then use the magic card 'Flute of Summoning Dragons.' allowing me to summon forth two dragons directly from my hand, allowing me to call forth my two Hyozanryu in attack mode. Now my dragons, take out Wheeler's remaining life points!" Kasey cried.

"Say, what? No way!" Joey cried. He had one monster in defense mode, but there was no way he could fend off all three monsters on the field. Joey's life points quickly hit 0.

"Man, kid...you're ruthless. You remind me of another guy I used to battle...except he'd cream you." Joey said, putting out his hand to shake it.

The kid hesitated, looking at the hand as if it was a weapon and not a friendly handshake. But the kid took it after a moment and said, "It was a good game...you were simply outclassed." He then released Joey's hand, turned, and walked away, saying, "Perhaps I'll see you again, sometime..." and vanished from the game.

"Yeah, I'll see ya around, Kasey. Heh...good kid, needs an attitude adjustment, though." he said and pulled himself out of the game. Joey got up to see Yugi and Tristan waiting for him to get up. He pulled himself up and looked at the other seats to see the kid was already gone.

"Hey Joey, you look like you were having a blast in there. Good game?" Tristan asked.

"Well, it got a lot better when that Kasey kid joined my game. Man, you had to see him...he was good. And to think, the kid was only 14." Joey said.

Yugi looked at him strangely, saying, "What are you talking about, Joey? No one else joined your game. The entire time, no one took any of the seats, but you."

"But...but I played him, he..." Joey said, turning around to face the seats and the computer and then it clicked. "No way..."

"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Uh...nothing, you're probably right. It had to be part of the game. They make these things so real now, you know?" Joey said to them, though he had an idea what it really was.

It was the next day in the evening, when Joey came to the Kaiba's mansion. "Can I help you, sir?" the gate man asked.

"Uh, yeah...tell Mr. Kaiba that I'd like to see him. I'm Joey Wheeler, a friend of his..." Joey smiled.

The man called on the phone, giving the information to MK, who responded to let him in. He opened the gate, allowing Joey to go to the front door. Immediately, the door opened, as MK said, "Hi Joey, it's great to see ya!"

"Um...yeah." Joey laughed. "Sorry kid, it's just gonna take some time for me to adjust to the new you. Every time I see ya, I keep thinking I'm seeing Seto Kaiba giving me a big warm greeting..."

MK chuckled, saying, "Geez, Joey...I've been this way for awhile, now. How much time do you need?"

Joey sheepishly rubbed the back of his hair, saying, "Hey, it aint my fault. We haven't seen ya in a while..."

"Oh, sorry about that. I've been real busy..." MK said, sounding rather sheepish. "Well, come on in. We can talk more inside."

Joey and Mokuba chatted for a while. MK tried to sound as cheerful as he could, explaining that he was learning a lot and figuring out how to deal with all the people he had to meet with at work, all the time. And his brother was taking the brunt of the business off of Mokuba's hands by doing it himself. All Mokuba had to do was use a computer scanner, so Kaiba knew what he had to do. Mokuba also explained how he had connected their computer systems all together and how his brother routed out a whole handful of spies they didn't even knew worked for them.

"You sure they're spies, though? Just cause an email sounds bad, doesn't mean it was really them doing it. Those guys can be pretty sneaky." Joey said.

Mokuba smiled, saying, "Seto has also been connected to the security system and has full camera control."

"Maybe so, but he can only see one thing at a time." Joey said.

Mokuba shook his head, "You don't understand, Joey. His mind was pulled from his body and imbedded into the computer. He doesn't have to do only one thing at a time, anymore. He 'is' the computer. He can do practically everything at once. It makes me worried, too. If he can do so many things at one time, he must get awfully bored at times. And I can't always be there for him. I just don't know what to do..."

"You want me to stay over tonight? We can hang out..." Joey asked.

"Well, I dunno. I normally stay with Seto at night. I try and keep him company." MK said.

x-x-x-x-x-x

(End Flash)

"I thought you said Mokuba stopped doing that with you?" Kaiba asked.

Computer Kaiba answered, "This happened a bit earlier before that took place. During this time, Mokuba only started to distance himself more."

x-x-x-x-x-x

(Continued Flashback)

"Well, it's only one night. Just tell him you got a friend over...you know he won't mind." Joey said.

"I know, but..." MK stammered.

"Mokuba. You can't sit around all the time worrying about your brother. I know you're upset about all this, but you'll only make him more upset if he thought you weren't letting yourself have fun, cause you were too worried about him. That's not why he did this." Joey said.

MK gave a weak smile, saying, "Yeah, you're right. Of course you can sleep over."

It was late in the night, when Joey snuck into the computer room. He looked up at the camera, noticing it move in his direction. Joey gave a smirk, saying, "Yeah, you're watching me, aren't ya? Well look out Kaiba, cuz I'm coming in!" He sat down on the VR system and put his cards in, switching on. In a moment, he was sucked into the Virtual World.

Joey looked around...things had changed since the last time they were there. He was on the top of a hill, looking down over a huge city, that looked like they were crawling with people. In fact, it looked just like Domino City.

"Whoa..." Joey breathed, wondering if he was controlling every person in that city. 'What a computer mind like he does, when he gets bored, I guess.'

He turned around, looking to find someone, still not seeing who he was expecting. Finally, he shouted out, "All right, come on Kaiba...where are you? I know you're out there and you know I'm here! Don't make me come after you!" Only then did he notice the great shadow looming over him. Joey looked up, horrified to see a Blue Eyes White Dragon flying down at him. He whirled around, falling to the ground, crying out, "Yeeaaaahhhh!" and was instantly snatched from the ground, as the dragon went flying high into the air.

Joey clung on for dear life, but the claw tossed him and he went hurtling down towards the ground, crying out, "MOMMEEEE!" finally being caught and now on the Blue Eyes black. "Okay Kaiba, this ain't funny anymore!" Joey cried out some more, as the Blue Eyes did a spiral, causing him to fall again, before landing on it's tail, then tossed back onto the dragon's back-end again. The great dragon continued to climb higher and higher into the air and then seemed to stop, as gravity seemed to finally claim the beast. He turned and began to spiral down into a nose-dive. Joey screamed again, Saying, "Up Simba, up! We're gonna die! I think I'm gonna be sick!" He came faster and faster towards the ground and just at the last second, he took a sharp curve, crashing through trees and skimming the ground. Finally his talons grabbed onto the earth, allowing him to stop fast and causing Joey to be launched off the back of the mighty beast and go bouncing off the ground a couple times, finally hitting a tree. Joey moaned incoherently, sprawled all over the tree and the ground...the dragon did a heck of a number on him.

Joey finally came out of it, as he heard laughter...biting cold laughter, that could only be caused by one person.

Joey began to recover and looked over at Kaiba standing right where the BEWD was a moment ago. "Have a nice trip?" Kaiba asked, with a knowing smirk.

"You jerk! What did you do that for?" Joey snapped, finally standing back up.

"I thought you'd be honored. There's not too many people that get the privilege to ride such a magnificent beast as that. So...aren't you supposed to be with Mokuba?" he asked.

"When did he tell you? I didn't see him leave to mention it. He just kind of fell asleep..." Joey asked.

"I thought you already knew. After all, you had a nice chat with me, before climbing into your VR pod. I obviously saw the whole thing. He doesn't have to tell me." Kaiba said.

"So then...you heard everything he said, too." Joey swallowed.

Kaiba hesitated with his answer, as he looked down at Joey. He finally turned away, looking down at the city, saying, "Yes, I did. Mokuba...forgets sometimes just how many abilities he's given me." Kaiba sighed, before adding, "He's wrong, you know. I'm not alone...I'm never alone. I get to see everyone and everything that's happening. I get to see him every step of the day, everything he does right and wrong. In fact, being here has allowed me to see him even more than I ever had a chance to when I was alive."

"You're still alive, you're just stuck here. You might see everyone Kaiba, but you don't get to be with too many people. You don't get just a little bored or lonely from all this?" Joey asked.

Kaiba glanced back towards Joey, giving a "Hmph." answering him, "Perhaps you forgot who you're talking to. You're the one always telling people what a lifeless machine I was...how ironic that I would actually become one."

He looked away, back at the city. "I never liked people in the first place. They were always a burden to me. Now I no longer have to deal with any of them. I have control of my entire world, at my very beck and call...like a god. I don't need to eat, sleep, dream, drink...none of it. All human annoyances have been ripped from me. It gives me even more time to do any of the work I need to do. And as Mokuba said, I don't have to do only one thing at a time, either. I can do everything at once. I can observe through every camera, every microphone, perform every task I need to get done, plus still interact with an annoying Mutt like you...and not even acknowledge one moment of effort from it all. For the first time ever, I am ahead of my work schedule. They can't give me enough to do to keep busy. So, how could I possibly wish for anything more?"

"You know what else you can do? You can lie like a son of a bitch. You can try all you want to convince me this is fun for you, but it ain't working, Kaiba. No human can enjoy this...this is like a private hell, a prison without walls. But I ain't saying what you did is wrong, either. I ain't like Yugi, or Mokuba, or the others...I think what you did was great. Hell, if I was in your shoes in the same position, I'd have done the same thing for Serenity." Joey said.

Kaiba said nothing to that, continuing to stare out at the city.

"Hey, Kaiba...listen. I just wanted to let you know that if you ever have something you wanna get off your chest, I'd be happy to hear you out." Joey said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kaiba answered.

Joey smiled, saying, "Well, I know while you were yourself and Mokuba was fine, if you ever needed anyone, you always had your brother. Well, there might be some sensitive subjects that you can't talk to him about no more...like regarding what happened between you two. You say something wrong, you say something maybe you don't like and you gotta worry about upsetting him. So, I just wanted to let you know, you don't have to bottle those things up. You can talk to me...and I promise I won't talk to anyone else about it, neither. Okay?"

Kaiba shook his head, saying, "You're an idiot. Even if what you were saying is true, why would I waste my time on a nobody like you?"

"Because this nobody might be all you got to talk to, and trust it won't go to the wrong set of ears." Joey said.

Kaiba turned to Joey, saying, "What makes you think there's any reason I should trust you with anything?"

"Because unlike anyone else, I too have a younger sibling and I know what you'd be willing to do for him, like I would be willing to do for Serenity. None of the others can understand cuz they don't have a brother or sister. Besides, it's not like you weren't already opening up to me anyway, right?" Joey asked, flashing a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kaiba said, glaring down at him.

"Sure ya do...Kasey. Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about, Mr. Dragon deck. So, what was that glitch in the system...were you cheating?" Joey asked.

Kaiba stared Joey down for a moment, as he considered his answer. Finally, he turned away and sighed, looking back down at the city. "I don't need to cheat to defeat you. I changed the final card I got. I didn't want you to see a Blue Eyes White Dragon coming to the field, when I'm the only one that possesses such cards." Before Joey said anything further though, he added in, "I was checking the games to make sure they were working properly."

"Sure ya were. So, uh...what did you mean that even when Mokuba was there with you, that you can't get near him?" Joey asked.

Kaiba realized that perhaps he said too much when he was talking with him, while pretending to be someone else. He should have known that with Yugi and Tristan watching, Joey would quickly figure out he was the only one playing the game. "It's not important." He answered. "You should probably go...humans need their rest."

"Don't ever forget you're human too, Kaiba." Joey told him. "And before I leave, I wanna know what you meant by that. Is Mokuba becoming more distant with you? Is he afraid to come close, after what happened?"

Kaiba gritted his teeth, "I can't touch anything, all right? It's not the same for me in this world, as it is for you. You're alive, you have a body...all I am now are thought patterns. I can create a form at a whim that appears to be as solid as you. But unlike you, I can't feel. It's another part of my humanity that was lost to me..."

"I...I didn't know." Joey said.

"I don't need your pity." Kaiba hissed.

"I aint pitying you. What you did was the noblest thing I ever saw a person do, and I wouldn't belittle you by pulling the pity routine! I...I honestly never knew you had it in you, to do something so selfless for your brother. Even when you were alive, I put down your loyalty for Mokuba, cause I thought you were being a creep even to him. I mean, when we saw you, even around him you seemed cold." Joey said.

Kaiba answered, "Mokuba's all ready been kidnapped enough times on my account. The more I reduce his importance to me in public, the less chances there are for anymore kidnapping attempts."

"You mean...you're worried about that?" Joey asked.

"This surprises you?" Kaiba asked.

Now that Joey thought about it...he supposed it didn't. Mokuba 'had' been captured at least twice since he's known them. "I guess that makes sense. But, that don't mean you can't treat him nice in front of us. Hell...we aint gonna kidnap him!"

"Hmph." Kaiba muttered, glaring down at his homemade city. "And what makes you think you're the only ones around. There's not too many times I recall when it was just me, Mokuba, and the rest of you hanging around, without other people passing by."

Joey thought about that again. "Yeah...I guess you're right." he muttered, remembering the random times. Finally, he asked, "So, what is it like being in here? Is it as bad as I thought it is?"

"It's time to go to bed, Wheeler." Kaiba answered.

"I won't tell him..." Joey said. "What are you afraid of, showing there might still be a spec of humanity in you? Come on, Kaiba...for once, just be honest. There's no reporters to worry about here."

"If you don't listen, I'm going to be forced to throw you out." Kaiba said.

Joey sighed, "Fine, I give up. I'll leave. But if you need anything, give me an email. It's original." Kaiba smirked.

Joey asked, "If you want to meet sometime, maybe I can get back on the arcade VR unit and we can talk there...you know?"

Kaiba waved his hand and Joey was immediately thrown back to his body.

/End Flashback/

((Uh...I've been putting the 'flashback' notes in parenthesis. If any of them seem different than the original Flashback notes, just change them to make them uniform...okay?))

"So, Wheeler's now your writing partner'?" Kaiba asked.

CKaiba turned away, muttering, "Only occasionally, to shut him up."

Somehow...Kaiba wasn't convinced. CKaiba's familiar behavior when he was trying to hide something and knew himself too well. "Hmph. I'm surprised you're even wasting time with this little 'pen pal' relationship of yours. Does he make a great pet, or something? Are you really 'that' bored?" Kaiba asked, sarcastically.

His other side scowled at the knowing glance he was being given, refusing to stoop to actually admitting enjoying any communication with Joey, whether he did or not. "I said he emailed me... I didn't say I was responsive towards him. Anything I had to say to him was only for Mokuba's sake. Unlike you, it's not as easy for me to know how he's feeling at all times, locked inside a machine. I don't have a choice but to get the opinion of another, on occasion. And unfortunately, out of the whole worthless gang of them, Wheeler was the least annoying when it came to trying to get me to 'talk' and 'open up' to him...not to say he didn't try, as well." At that, computer Kaiba turned away, once again avoiding the knowing gaze of the other.

Why once he could tell he was lying. Though it would never be apparent to anyone else, he simply knew himself too well. Never reveal a weakness...the first lesson he ever learned, and never forgot. And if CKaiba had begun to offer information to Joey, then he was definitely forgetting those rules. But in a computer world where he had no one, even he would probably grow desperate after awhile.

And Kaiba could understand if the other was simply trying to grasp onto the last shreds of sanity that he could, and he could understand trying not to reveal a weakness. But if this version of him had no problems 'chatting' with Wheeler, there was no way he would accept the insult of not being honest with his own self.

Kaiba snapped at him, "Who are you trying to fool? Maybe you forgot whom you're talking to. At this moment, that loser Wheeler isn't the person you are talking to, right now. This world's obviously gotten you desperate enough, that you feel the need to be scrounging for a crutch...though I can't say I agree with your choice of who to lean on."

Kaiba turned away in disgust. "Hmph...it's sad, really. I can't imagine ever feeling 'that' desperate!"

"Shut up!" CKaiba snapped angrily at the other. "This isn't about me, it's about Mokuba! It doesn't matter how I feel, I don't need anyone... especially Wheeler. I have Mokuba... he's all I ever needed. That's never changed."

Kaiba turned back to the other, muttering, "But you said he doesn't come to visit, anymore. He might be what you need, but he's here, anymore. He's forgotten you..."

CKaiba looked down to hide the pain from those words. It's words he never wanted to admit to himself, and now a mirror image of him was forcing him to face the horrible fact. It certainly felt that way.

"He doesn't mean it..." CKaiba said softly. "It's my fault. I've thrown this responsibility on him, when he wasn't ready. He's just busy. Besides...it's what I really wanted, anyway...for him to move on. If he hovered around here all the time instead of focusing on reality, then I would have failed. At least now...I know he's happy."

He looked back up at Kaiba, who was staring over at him without emotion...without pity. And for that cold glare, he was grateful. He was tired of people feeling sorry for him. "I'm not going to lie." CKaiba said. "It hurts to think I may be nothing to him, anymore. Yet, very few seem to understand that none of it matters. He doesn't need me to drag him down...and I had a promise to keep."

Kaiba nodded, saying, "...and you kept it. You what was necessary for him. It's like you said...if he remained dependant on you forever, he'd never learn to lead a life of his own. You did what had to be done."

"Exactly." CKaiba nodded, for once feeling relief from someone who truly understood him. Even Joey didn't totally get it. But how could he? He was Joey.

"Wheeler has insisted I try and push myself closer to Mokuba, but he doesn't understand this." CKaiba said, not realizing the incriminating words he had just muttered. He was simply too pleased to talk to someone who wasn't constantly preaching to him how to dictate what was left of his existence.

"You told the Mutt what you were feeling?" Kaiba asked, shocked.

CKaiba inwardly groaned at the question...it was too late to deny it, now. "It was a moment of insanity I was having, being in here for so long. I know it was a mistake...it was a mistake the moment I said it. Now he won't leave me alone about it. I haven't talked to him further on the subject, since it was spoken. I was half tempted to explain to him why I won't, but I figured I'd regret that, too. And I can't tell Mokuba...if I do, I'll only be guilting him into seeing me, and I don't want that. If he comes to visit me...I want him to because 'he' wants to, not because of the way I am, now."

Kaiba nodded, saying nothing further on the subject. CKaiba didn't even have to explain to him why he didn't want to talk to Mokuba about it. It was probably annoying enough having anyone else communicate to him with words of pity. It would be hell to have Mokuba showing up to visit, simply out of that same pity. CKaiba wanted Mokuba to see him because he would miss him as a brother, not because he felt obligated to him since he owed him.

And Kaiba didn't pry further on him and Joey, either. Now that CKaiba at least admitted enough to him that he was in fact communicating to Joey, he didn't want to know more. He knew more than enough, as it was.

"Exactly how long do you plan on sticking around?" CKaiba suddenly asked, making his voice sound his usual tone of disinterest. But in truth, he was actually hoping this Kaiba wasn't planning on leaving very soon. It actually felt good talking with someone who could relate to him, without worrying that he was going to preach to him or tell him what he should and shouldn't do. Yet, he had a feeling his time here was not going to last much longer...

Perhaps Kaiba sensed the hidden urgency in the other's words or actions, or perhaps he was simply too weirded out to stick around here, anymore. Either way, he answered almost too quickly, "I suppose now would be as good a time as any. I hope things work out between you and Mokuba."

Kaiba then pulled out the box, wanting out of this place as quick as possible. He couldn't deal with anymore of this. With a few box changes, he was gone almost as quickly as he arrived.


	17. C17 Opposites

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. Edited by yamisgirl

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C17 Opposites**_

Kaiba was glad to be out of that other dimension. But at present, from what he could tell he seemed to be not too far from Domino High. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary at the moment, no one staring at him like he was an alien from another world. But his hair was starting to bother him, and slightly hanging in his face. Obviously, he needed a haircut...and soon.

But, this was not the time to worry about his hair. He had a mission to focus on. Kaiba's first thought was to head to the mansion and see if it belonged to him or Noah.

So, Kaiba reached for his cell phone...and that's when he realized something had totally changed about him. He didn't have his cell phone. In fact, he didn't even have his normal clothes. From what he could tell, it looked to him like he was dressed as some street bum.

Well, he was certainly not going to be seen dead wearing such horrible-looking clothes. Didn't the Kaiba of this world have any self-respect about himself? Well, he must not be in the right world. But, that made him wonder just what happened to him in this world? Was he poor? Did he fail against Gozaburo? Maybe Pegasus succeeded in taking everything, and let him go afterwards just to make him suffer more.

As terrible as it might have been, Kaiba wanted to know. He had to know if he was the cause of being so poverty-stricken. But first...he had to change into something better than this.

Reaching into his pocket, he found enough money to buy something better than he had on. He continued down the street, until he found a store that looked semi-decent, and used his money to put on something better. As he did this, he noticed his hair was In fact a lot longer than he expected. It made him look more like a girl, or a slob. For now, he tucked it into a ponytail, so it didn't look as bad.

Then on his way out, Kaiba suddenly ran into a number of men he's never seen before crowded around him.

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, asking calmly, "Can I help you?"

"'Can I help you.' he says..." the biggest kid muttered, causing the others to laugh. "Yeah, you can help us you little punk. Take him!"

Kaiba had no idea what these kid's problems were. But he also had no intention on letting them do anything to him. In an instant, he was battling the kids off of him, sweeping them off their feet, then kicking or punching them in the face.

Every one of these kids seemed to be surprised that Kaiba was capable of such force, a few of them backing away to keep from getting hurt. The head kid snapped, "What's this, momma's boy decided to take a few fighting lessons, so his little brother didn't have to help him out, anymore?"

Did he hear that right? Mokuba had to save him? That was something he had trouble imagining. In fact...it would be a nice change. But at the same time, Kaiba also understood the cost for someone being so strong. If Mokuba had to suffer more in order to be stronger, then he'd gladly have his brother just the way he was, now.

Giving their leader a swift knee to the gut, he hissed, "I don't need any lessons to take losers like you out. Maybe you're the ones that need lessons."

Not wanting to mess with him any further, they quickly turned and began to run away. The head kid was still holding his stomach, as he turned, saying, "This aint over, Yagakamiya! Kaiba's watching you!"

'Kaiba?' he thought, as they turned and ran. Did they mean Noah? 'They have to. They obviously couldn't be talking about me. I even seem to have the last name as that dimension I've been looking for. Maybe I'm close to my destination.'

Kaiba now decided maybe he should try and find what his home was, here. They mentioned Mokuba. Even if his little brother was tougher in this world, he wanted to check on him and make sure he wasn't attacked by them, first. In the other world, he still remembered the common house he lived in, and decided to start heading there.

It was a good 15 minutes walk before he got near that neighborhood. But as he continued to walk, he suddenly had the feeling he was once again being watched or followed. Casually glancing around, he noticed there was a limo not too far off, and trailing slowly. Immediately, he ducked between a set of houses that caused the limo to stop and suits to come out after him.

Kaiba didn't know why he was being hunted yet again. Obviously this version of him got himself in quite a lot of trouble. But if he had very little fighting ability here, then how did he ever get out of it?

Kaiba made it to the other side of the alley, only to find another set of suits leave yet a second limo. He was quickly being surrounded by men...men Kaiba knew like the back of his hand. They were 'his' men, his security guards. Unfortunately for them, Kaiba also knew their training and fighting abilities as well as his own. He also knew which ones held guns. And they weren't allowed to pull them unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, that didn't mean he had any qualms about taking that said gun and using it to threaten them. These idiots wouldn't stand a chance.

The cockiest of the bunch snapped his knuckles, grinning like an idiot. "Pretty tough today for a loser, Yagakamiya. We've heard you kicked the ass of some of the street punks Kaiba had hired. Then again, maybe they just mistook you fer your younger brother. Too bad he isn't here."

Kaiba smirked at them, saying, "8 to 1 odds. If you plan to take me down, you're going to have to do better than that."

The man laughed. "Kid, we only need one of us to take you down." He nodded to one of them, saying, "Get him."

As the man approached Kaiba like he was about to beat up a 5-year old, Kaiba took him down hard then tossed him straight at the head man, who was shoved backwards.

Immediately, that was que for the other security to come rushing forth. But before he could do anything else, suddenly another person came rushing in, punching out security.

And Kaiba blinked, realizing who it was. "Mokuba...?" He definitely didn't look like his innocent brother, either. He had short hair, some battle scars on parts of his arms like he had done this before, and he looked very strong for someone so young.

"What the fuck are you standing there for, you dumb ass!" Mokuba snapped angrily at him. "Pick your tail up and RUN!"

Run? Seto Kaiba run from a fight, and just leave his brother to fight 'his' battle? Definitely not. But Kaiba had trouble moving or doing anything. He couldn't believe this was his brother he was witnessing running around swearing like a sailor, and kicking people's asses like he was part of some Bruce Lee movie. And he was good.

Unfortunately, being so stunned watching his brother in battle also distracted him from the main threat. Before Kaiba knew what else had happened, he was hit in the back of the head, and everything else went black.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

With a groan, Kaiba began to wake up, hearing voices. They were unclear at first, but they came clear soon enough once he was totally awake.

"Sir...we should remain here if you're going to question the prisoner."

"Don't be ridiculous. This is Yagakamiya's big wimpy brother...he couldn't hurt a flea."

"But, sir...he's stronger."

"You fools make me sick. Get out of my sight!"

Kaiba looked up to see he was in an empty room with one open doorway...a few shadowy figures were near it, saying these things. The one suggesting protection was obviously security. But the voice of the head person? It was definitely not Noah, nor Gozaburo. It wasn't even him or Mokuba. Yet, the voice was somehow familiar. But, who?

Then more importantly, where was Mokuba? Was he safe? How could he be so careless to let this happen to him?

The figure now walked in, and Kaiba was even more shocked to see who it was. "Wheeler?" Kaiba asked in surprise.

Joey laughed coldly at Kaiba, saying, "Well, I guess that hit on the head did a little more to you than we figured."

He then approached, looking rather foreboding for what Kaiba saw as a loser mutt. "The name is Kaiba, mutt. Don't ever forget it."

Joey was a Kaiba? When did hell freeze over? At least for a change, Wheeler didn't look like the scrounge he was used to seeing. His hair was cut and professionally trimmed. For once it seemed someone managed to tame that wild main of his to look decent. He wore an expensive light gray suit, making Joey actually 'look' professional. It was something that Kaiba never thought Joey was capable of looking like in his entire life.

Kaiba attempted to keep a straight face, but he couldn't. To Joey's surprise, Kaiba started to laugh his head off. Joey all dressed up like that, trying to look so menacing...it was too funny to imagine, let alone see.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Joey snapped, not liking Kaiba's attitude in the least.

Kaiba quickly covered his mouth to try and control himself, muttering, "You look ridiculous..."

"Maybe the guards did hit you too hard. There's nothing different about how I look. If anyone looks ridiculous, it's you. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you're attempting to adopt my style of clothes. A lame attempt at that. But, then I suppose anything's better than what you had before." Joey muttered.

Kaiba quickly sobered, now looking over at Joey's weird cocky grin. "Where's Mokuba?" Kaiba asked.

"You mean your brother?" Joey laughed. "Since when do you worry about him? You're the one you should be worried about. Knowing him, he's probably gathering your pathetic friends to try and save you."

The grin then quickly became a sneer, muttering, "Which is exactly what I want him to do. My plan is working perfectly."

"What plan?" Kaiba asked, his eyes narrowing. He could probably take Joey down rather easily, especially since Joey refused to listen to his guards and insisted on assuming Kaiba to be a nothing fighter. But Kaiba decided he'd prefer to know what he was up against first.

Joey had a very 'high-and mighty' look on his face, as he calmly explained, "I guess you haven't heard the news, lately. There have been rare hunters wandering around looking to steal rare cards. And they want my card...the rarest of all."

Rare cards? This sounded interesting. "Which is?"

"I happen to possess one of the three rare god cards." Joey said, proudly holding up Obelisk the Tormentor for Kaiba to see.

Kaiba's greedily eyes absorbed the picture of that card, feeling the power that emanated from it. He wanted that card...he would make that card his, if he could.

The card was then quickly placed back into his deck, saying, "Yet, for some reason they seem to want to chase after your pathetic friend, Yami."

Who was he talking about? Kaiba had no clue.

"They possess the other two god cards. So, the only way for me to make them mine is to attract them to me. And with Yami as the bait, they'll have no choice to come here and battle me for it!"

Kaiba crossed his arms. "Sounds pretty stupid to me. But from a mediocre nobody, I wouldn't expect anything more."

"Mediocre?" Joey asked, and laughed coldly. "You try and use mediocre against ME? Ahahahaha! Stupid dog, I have everything in the world! You are 'nothing' to me! And soon once all the god cards are mine, I'll be unstoppable!"

Joey was now cackling like a banshee, which kind of made Kaiba do a double-take on himself. 'Gods, do I ever sound that bad?' he wondered, giving himself a personal note to tone down on the egomaniac laughing, when he could.

So Kaiba decided he had enough. He approached Joey, and without warning...punched him square in the mouth. Joey went down even quicker than he normally does...which was sad. He was so pathetic, for a moment it was like he punched a girl.

Joey cried out in pain, as a few tear drops leaked from his eyes. He took a rag out to tenderly blot the bloody lip. "You...you punched me!" he said in shock.

Kaiba shrugged bored, muttering, "I couldn't stand the cackling, anymore. You were getting even more annoying than before...if that was possible."

"No one ever touches me!" Joey ranted, getting into a spoiled fit. "You'll pay for that!"

"From who...your guards? They're not much better." Kaiba mocked. "As tempting as it is to try and get these so-called god cards...I have higher priorities that mean more to me, at the moment. You'll just have to find some other sap to hold hostage to. Why don't you try capturing Yugi, instead? It's who you want, anyway."

Kaiba then turned away, heading for the door.

"No one gets away from me! Security!" Joey snapped, as the guards immediately came running.

Kaiba immediately grabbed Joey, placing him in a strangle-hold. "Unless you want this pathetic loser's death on your hands, I suggest you move."

The guards looked uncertain what to do, not expecting him to hold the CEO of Kaiba Corp as hostage.

"You're bluffing!" Joey snapped. "You're one of Yugi's pathetic friendship groupies! You'd never kill me!"

"And I suppose I'd never give you a bloody lip, either." Kaiba smirked. He then squeezed tighter at his neck, saying, "Are you really willing to find out if I have the guts? Is your life worth so little? I have no trouble demonstrating to your security how easily their master can fall..."

Joey squeaked, "Wait...security, hold your ground." and choked a bit from the lack of air Kaiba was letting him intake.

"What the hell is going on, here?"

Suddenly everyone turned pale, including Joey. The guards all turned tail and ran, leaving Kaiba standing there even more confused.

A woman then strutted up to the doorway, and looked the situation over. This woman had very short red hair, showing the full length of her neck. She was also wearing a full black leather body suit, complete with studs and chains, and carried with her some kind of long black leather whip. She looked like one of those women you would see posted in a bondage magazine.

"S-Serenity..." Joey squeaked out. "Yagakamiya...help..."

Serenity eyed her brother, then looked hungrily over at Kaiba with great interest. A subtle cold smile slipped on those lips as she looked him over. "Odd...despite who you are and what you look like, I sense a man of great wealth and power. You're not Seto Yagakamiya at all, are you? Who are you?"

"Good eye." Kaiba muttered back. "The name's Seto Kaiba."

"Kaiba!" Joey choked out, struggling pathetically to try and loosen Kaiba's grip. Joey really was pitiful, seeming to have absolutely no fighting or self-defense abilities, what so ever.

"I see." Serenity smiled. "So, you're some other 'version' of yourself? Are there other versions of us, too?"

Kaiba nodded. "I didn't even know this loser dog had a sister, to be honest. But in my world, your brother's known as Wheeler, not Kaiba. And he is still just as pathetic in my world, as well. The only real difference is he's about as poor as my version seems to be in this universe. But I doubt he has a sister there that matches your stubbornness to stand in my way."

"Then I'll take that as a compliment." Serenity said, licking her lips. "Thank you."

Not seeing any real threat around him, he tossed Joey away like the rag he was. Kaiba then muttered, "Just step aside like the other guards did, and I'll be on my way."

"And what makes you think I'd let you leave?" Serenity asked.

Kaiba smirked. "Who's going to stop me? You?"

Now Joey began to laugh. "Serenity...it looks like Yagakamiya has forgotten who he speaks to."

"Serenity?" she questioned him.

Joey swallowed, "I - I mean...'Mistress' Serenity."

'Mistress Serenity?' Kaiba silently wondered. 'Isn't she supposed to be his sister?'

"You're an idiot, you know that?" she asked. "Don't you get it, yet? He's not Yagakamiya!"

Then smiling back at Kaiba, she added, "But, you're right on one aspect. Because of who he is, he has no idea who he faces, which will be your downfall, Seto 'Kaiba'."

"He is not a Kaiba!" Joey snapped.

Kaiba looked away, not impressed with Serenity's words. "I don't fight girls."

"Then I guess that'll be your downfall." Serenity stated. "I'll even make it more interesting for you. If you can get through me, then you can go."

"But, he dared to damage my face!" Joey snapped. "I want my revenge!"

While Kaiba looked bored and unimpressed, Joey glared daggers at him. "If you want to ever leave here, you have to duel me!" he stated, showing off his duel disk.

"You wouldn't stand a chance, mutt." Kaiba muttered. Then Kaiba smirked. "Besides, I need something if I win. Maybe that god card of yours."

"Why should I? You don't have a god card for me to even make it worth fighting you for!" Joey snapped.

"Enough!" Serenity snapped. "Men...always having to make it complicated. If you can get through me, Seto Kaiba, we'll deem you worthy to challenge my brother."

"That's not fair, sister! No one can defeat you!" Joey snapped.

Serenity glared at Joey, saying, "I can make 'you' my play toy, instead..." Joey immediately quieted, and even coward a bit, which Kaiba found rather interesting.

She then continued. "And if out of some miracle, you can defeat me...then you gain the right to battle my brother. But I should warn you, in this world he is the Duel Monster champion of this world."

"Then, I suppose he didn't duel Yugi, yet." Kaiba stated evenly.

"Yugi?"

Kaiba blinked. Didn't he exist here? "Motou?" he questioned, now uncertain of Yugi's existence. 'He has to be here!'

She smiled. "Oh, you mean Yami."

'Yami?' That's who Joey was talking about. But, why would Yugi's name be changed from 'game' to 'darkness'? Then again, it was another universe...no sense trying to understand the fabrics of different worlds.

"My brother had defeated him multiple times. Why, is he some real challenge in your world?" she asked.

Kaiba's eyes widened, unable to concept that Joey was even stronger than Yugi. How was that possible? 'Yugi must be weak in this universe. Pity...then he's not worthy to battle against in this world.' he decided.

"If you can beat my brother, that earns you the right to leave, without resistance." Serenity continued to explain. Then with a growing evil smirk, she added, "But if you lose, you have to be my play toy for the next week. Understand?"

"I wouldn't waste my time fighting you." Kaiba stated to her, though amused that Joey was scared of his own sister.

Serenity replied, "Then maybe I could change your mind." Serenity was first to attack. She grabbed at Kaiba's hand who blocked with his other hand, being blocked back by Serenity's other hand, causing the both of them to perform some rather swift hand movements countering each other. They froze, both intrigued by each other's abilities.

Kaiba began to fully understand the reality of the situation, that Serenity seemed to have a great deal of fighting skill to counter him so professionally. He never thought a girl would even be the slightest challenge to him, but there she was putting him into a stalemate, for the moment. Joey was equally stunned to see Kaiba block his sister...the Seto he knew had as little fighting ability as he did. Maybe Serenity was correct and this Seto was telling the truth. Maybe he was some sort of alternate reality Kaiba. How did that happen?

But it didn't really matter. Joey knew it couldn't last long...no one could defeat his sister.

Serenity was becoming more and more fascinated by this Kaiba, to see someone who might actually be a challenge to her...she was looking forward to chaining him up and breaking the man. Kaiba finally said to her, "Back off, Serenity... I told you I don't fight girls."

"That's always a man's greatest downfall." she purred. "Being a woman always makes the man hesitate, and that's how they lose."

Again, Serenity attacked...this time as if she was fighting a real opponent, going all out at him. Kaiba defended, barely able to keep her from taking him down. He realized she was right...if he held back, she might actually over-power him. But Kaiba really didn't want to fight a woman. He didn't want a physical fight, at all...he just wanted to get out of here and back to his mission.

Kaiba muttered, "I don't have time for this." He was 1/2 tempted to go run into another room and simply use the device to get out. But he couldn't do that...it would look too cowardly for him to run away, especially from a girl fighting him.

But she simply laughed, and spat back, "Well, you're going to make time if you ever want to get out of here. Remember, Seto...if you fail, you're going to be my pet for a week. Even if your friends come to save you, they will be helpless to stop me. Personally, it'll be fun to defeat you and turn you into my little bitch, right now!"

Serenity then performed an amazing sweep attack, knocking Kaiba to his feet.

Fortunately for Kaiba, he was able to roll with it and recover before she could finish him off, but it pushed him far enough that he was now backed against a wall. "My brother's right, you know. Not you or any of your friends are man enough to take me down. And as wonderfully skilled as you are, even you stand no chance against me, I'm afraid. I always get what I want, and unfortunately for you...you got my attention. I like my men rich and power, and I especially love a strong opponent. And from your world, you seem to have it all. You should be proud, Seto Kaiba. You've been the most challenging opponent I've had in a long time."

Kaiba tried retaliating again, but she then used her whip, wrapping it around his throat and pulling him to her, as she licked her lips. "You're going to be my man-slave today...what do you think about that?" Out of the corner of his eye, he could also see Joey smirking and looking relieved for some reason.

That's right...Serenity all ready threatened that if Joey didn't behave, she'd make him her pet. That would have to mean that Serenity must have gone so far as to even use her own brother in her strange sex games.

But now, once Serenity was battling Kaiba, Joey obviously no longer had such concerns. He had complete confidence in his sister's abilities. In fact, he sat down and enjoyed watching his sister thrash him, expecting a rather quick victory from her.

And to Kaiba's own concern, he was beginning to realize perhaps the Serenity of this world was actually more than even he could handle. Someone like her might require him to use more than just raw power to take her down...as sad as that sounded. But there was no way he was going to be someone's play-thing...that was simply too embarrassing. He had a purpose to fulfill...a brother to save. Sticking around for a week to be some psycho woman's love slave wasn't on the agenda.

So, he decided to do something that no one from his universe would ever expect from him, though this was stooping pretty low even for him. Kaiba decided to play nice. He could only hope Joey was as stupid here as he was in his world, and wouldn't catch on to what Kaiba was up to, until it was too late.

Seto Kaiba slipped on a charming smile, sliding his finger up her whip towards her hands, saying, "I have to admit, I've never seen anyone be able to best me before, either. I'm impressed...if there is any woman worthy of my attention, it would have to be you. With your strength and beauty, you must have men flocking to your doorstep. I'm surprised you would even honor me with such attention."

Serenity was surprised, stuttering out, "Actually, the men all fear or hate me...they're jealous of what I have and they don't."

She sounded shocked that any man would be interested in her, and especially for her strength. Kaiba assumed the forward attitude probably scared them all off, though he couldn't really blame them.

"Then they don't know what they're missing." Kaiba practically purred to her, as he gently brought his hand up her neck to her face, then brought his head over, kissing her gently on the lips. Kaiba then pulled away slightly, seeing the equally stunned look on her face, though he knew it wouldn't last. She was simply surprised at someone being nice to her, and her tough attitude would probably be back in an instant. So, while she was stunned, looking at the way he was being nice and gentle to her, he played dirty and punched her dead-on in the face with all the strength he could muster. Serenity collapsed on the floor, out cold.

During the entire time, Joey went from looking equally surprised, to having a gagging disgusted look on his face that anyone would be attracted to his psychotic sister. Then as his sister hit the floor, Joey's expression quickly changed to total shock.

Kaiba got down on his knees, checking to see if she was okay. The cheap shot he played made him actually feel bad for hitting her...but it was the only way he could think of at the time to take her down.

Kaiba then looked up at his next opponent he had to defeat in order to escape...Joey 'Kaiba'. He originally had no plans for challenging either person. But as soon as he began to fight Serenity, in his mind he felt that was basically accepting the challenge. And there was no way he was going to back-down, now. He was a warrior that would face his opponent without fear...especially if it was Joey.

He smirked, saying, "Well, mutt...you're next."

"Uh, but...uh...how?" Joey muttered stupidly for a moment. He then stood up and snapped, "You cheated!"

"There is no cheating when it comes to fighting. If your sister was stupid enough to let her guard down, then that's her problem." Kaiba stated.

Kaiba now stood, and added, "But I can understand if you don't want to fight. You wouldn't stand a chance against me. So, if the puppy's afraid to battle, then I'll simply take my leave."

"You're not going anywhere!" Joey snapped. "Let's duel!"

Joey led Kaiba to a dueling area. Each had a small electronic table to put their cards in to call out holographic monsters. It was similar to what Kaiba made...the tables Pegasus used in Duelist Kingdom. But they were more compact, simpler, and cheaper-looking. They were definitely not Kaiba's quality.

"I created these devices, myself." Joey bragged. "Yami once battled me, calling forth live monsters from his magical puzzle. He didn't win, of course. But after that battle, I was able to duplicate this ability in an entirely different way. I don't have a magic item...but I have all the power in the world from the company I own. Now the power of real monsters are also 'mine'!"

"There's no such thing as magic, or real monsters." Kaiba stated. "All you can create are holographic projections."

Joey stated, "So you have such a thing in your world too, huh? Well, they might be projections, but they're images of real monsters, fool! It's the lack of belief you have that causes all my opponents to lose. I'll show you reality, soon enough!"

Joey then pulled out his deck, ready to battle.

Kaiba also pulled out his deck that was still on him. It was one of the only thing that remained with him in his journey, along with the box and his necklace of Mokuba. He had no idea why they didn't disappear along with all his other things. He could only assume that Aiko must have done something to ensure they wouldn't leave him. Maybe she knew he had planned on using this deck to take Noah down. Yes, he told Seto that he'd let him do it, but simply didn't believe Seto was capable of it. 'I'll take him down...and this time, I'll use my own deck to do it. But, for now...you're first, Wheeler.'

Joey now sneered. "You have no idea who you're facing, loser! Maybe you somehow out-smarted my sister, but you're not going to defeat me! Today when you lose, you'll be my sister's toy all week. Even if your friends show up, they'll never be able to save you. I hope you're prepared for this, because she don't play nice."

"You probably know that first-hand, don't you?" Kaiba smirked.

Joey scowled, yet also blushed in embarrassment, confirming Kaiba's assumption. It definitely explained why Joey was so afraid of her. "Let's go." Joey said - refusing to admit or deny anything, as they began to duel.

They didn't play for long, before there was a momentary stop in the game. Serenity suddenly entered, holding an ice pack on her face and stewing. Both men stopped, looking nervously over at her, as she gave them both death glares, looking like she was about to kill someone.

She finally turned to Kaiba and hissed, "No one has ever done that to me before. I'm going to make you pay dearly for what you did. That, I guarantee!"

"Don't forget the rules." Kaiba smirked. "You said if I get by you, I get to challenge your brother...you never said how. Now, stick to the agreement." he snapped.

Serenity smiled, saying, "Oh, don't worry. I wont interfere. You misunderstand, Seto. No one's ever defeated me before, in any way. I'm not angry. I'm even more anxious to have you. Unfortunately for you, Joey's the Duelist Champion of this world...you have no chance against him. And when Joey's done smearing the floor with you, it'll be my turn to play. Don't think you're free of me yet, Seto...this nightmare for you has only just begun."

She then laughed coldly and walked over to one corner of the room, leaning into it. "Oh, by the way, brother...if out of some miracle you do lose this, that'll make you my playmate for the week. So for your sake, you better not screw this up."

But that didn't faze Joey, as he glanced at Kaiba with confidence. "Don't worry, sister...I'll win you your new toy."

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, Mutt." Kaiba smirked, both equally confident in their abilities.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The duel quickly continued. Kaiba was the first to come out with a tremendously strong strategy, putting Joey at a terrible disadvantage. He never suspected that Kaiba would have not just one...but 3 BEWD's. In this world, Joey had all four. Joey also underestimated Kaiba's abilities because of what he saw in Seto from this world, stupidly causing him to lax.

After further threats from his sister, causing him to fear what would happen if he did lose, Joey soon came up with his own tremendous comeback.

Kaiba did not underestimate his opponent...especially after that fight with Serenity, and her bragging that Joey was the top duelist. But Kaiba was still anticipating that Joey would base his deck on gambling of some sort, like the Joey of his world always did. He was wrong. The Joey of this world didn't believe in gambling...he believed in strategy, in magic, and in fate.

Kaiba was in fact amazed just how intense his battle was the person labeled in his world as 'mediocrity'. It was so challenging, he might as well have been battling with Yugi. He continued his face-off with Joey, holding nothing back...giving everything he had against him.

And like his battles with Yugi, just when it looked like Kaiba was about to finish him off, Joey pulled a miracle. It was something Kaiba never really seen or expected to battle against. Joey pulled Obelisk the Tormentor.

Suddenly, the rolls were reversed and Kaiba was doing all in his power just to stay in the game. Never had he seen a card so powerful before. It was unbeatable! How could he defeat it? Was it over? Would he actually lose?

No. Kaiba refused to accept defeat. So be it. If he had to defeat a god to win, then he would do just that!

This battle definitely gave Kaiba a new found respect towards Joey. Maybe if the mutt had more wealth and better cards, he could be more challenging than Kaiba ever could imagine. This battle also made him hunger even more to have the power of this god card. 'I'll find a way to have it...some day it'll be mine.'

But, no matter what he was presently facing, Kaiba refused to give in. He would win this match for two reasons...for his freedom and his pride. He had to get to Mokuba, and save him in that world. He had to prove no matter what world he was in, he was better than Wheeler...even if Wheeler became a Kaiba and was using a god card against him. But he never let himself even think about what might happen to him 'if' he failed, only in success. Never would Kaiba second guess himself, or give in to fear.

This time, it was Kaiba's turn to pull a miracle of his own, and introduced to Joey a monster that could defeat a god...Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. He was even stronger than Obelisk and sent the god to the graveyard.

Now, Joey became the one pressing himself to remain in the game. He couldn't believe someone defeated his god card, without having a god card of their own.

Kaiba now grinned, knowing the end of battle was near. He could see the sweat on Joey and the look of fear in his eyes...Joey was about to lose. 'It's over, Wheeler.' he thought, as Kaiba took the final plunge against him.

But just when it looked like Kaiba was going to take him down once and for all, at the last instant Joey pulled it off again. He fused REBD with Meteor Black Dragon...creating Meteor Black Dragon.

"That's not near enough to stop me." Kaiba stated boldly.

Joey smirked, slapping down another card. "Wanna bet? I combine him with Megamorph!"

Kaiba stared down at a now massive form of Meteor Black dragon, with a threatening 7000 attack points. Joey commanded the beast forward to finish off Ultimate Dragon, as he laughed evilly. "I win!" he announced.

But Kaiba smiled, stating, "Wrong." He flipped his one last card, 'Shrink' to reverse the power of Joey's Megamorph card.

Joey stood there, stunned. In that final shot, Joey was defeated...his title shattered. 'No...not to him. Not to Yagakamiya's double!'

Kaiba was now the one cackling like a madman, temporarily forgetting that he mentally told himself to tone down on the egomaniac laughter. He then pointed down at Joey, saying, "You shouldn't even wield such a card. A loser like you does not even deserve Obelisk. That is why you lost, because your god doesn't feel you're worthy! That card should belong to me!"

"But that wasn't part of the deal." Serenity said to him, looking very disappointed. "Sorry...it stays with my brother."

"You cheated, somehow...I know you did!" Joey snapped. "No one can defeat a god! At least not without a god of your own to challenge against!"

"It's your own stupidity, brother." Serenity said. "You got too cocky with that card, thinking it made you invincible. You shouldn't even need that god to win in a duel."

She then let out an annoyed sigh, spitting, "You really make me sick. I'm going to make sure you are strongly punished for daring to lose my slave!"

"What? Wait!" Joey panicked, backing away. "But, he cheated! That wasn't a fair fight! He sideswiped you. You know this! If you both kept it fair, he wouldn't have had a chance! Don't you see? Now's your chance to take him down. He can't fool you like that again, and he wont be able to stop you. Take him, sister. Make him your slave, anyway!"

Kaiba took a few steps back, not liking how this was sounding. "We made an agreement." he stated, hoping he wasn't going to have to battle her, again. That duel alone took a toll on him, and he was still sore from fighting Serenity earlier. He honestly didn't think he could defeat her a second time, either. There were at least some things in this room he could use as a weapon against her, but it would still be difficult.

Serenity used her whip around Joey's throat, as she turned to Kaiba. "I keep my agreements, Seto Kaiba. I will let you go. It's a pity...it could have been fun. Maybe we'll meet again, sometime."

Kaiba nodded in respect. At least she keeps her word, unlike her brother.

"No, no...please, Serenity!" Joey choked.

Serenity sneered down at Joey, "That's 'mistress' Serenity to you, my slave."

"B-but...we need him. Y-Yami..." Joey coughed.

Serenity said, "Seto was right. Simply find and capture Yami, then."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba decided not to waste anymore time. The last thing he wanted to do was give them a chance to change their minds. Kaiba turned and left the room, heading straight to the front door.

Knowing easily how to find the front entrance to the mansion, he went right to it and walked through the doors to freedom. To his surprise, he found Yugi's group waiting for him.

It was definitely not what he was expecting. Yugi was there, looking...well like a confidant Yugi, and not the other Yugi. Tristan's hair was totally different, looking kind of like Duke in drag. Duke had a weird flattop looking more like Frankenstein. And Tea...she had a perm and was cowering in the back, looking like she was about ready to bolt and leave all her friends to fend for themselves. Finally, in front was Mokuba, who looked like he was about to kick someone's ass.

The entire group stopped and stared at Kaiba, as if he had just grown a second head. Kaiba looked at them and asked, "What?"

"Seto...you're all right!" Pharaoh Yugi exclaimed over-dramatically.

Mokuba eyed his brother strangely, asking, "Okay...how'd you get out in tact? And why have you been wandering around today with those weird clothes? Are you really Seto?"

It was a good thing it was Mokuba asking these questions, or he'd tell them exactly what for. "Of course it's me." he answered neutrally. "And I thought you should be warned this was all a trap to lure Yugi here. Whe-...Kaiba's trying to get some kind of rare card hunters to come here to get god cards. He was trying to get you, Yugi."

"Yugi?" he asked. "Don't you mean Yami?"

"What's a Yugi?" Tristan asked.

Duke smiled. "You know Seto...always joking around."

That's right...for some reason, Yugi was called Yami. He didn't seem any different, except Yugi acted more like the 'other' Yugi without the subtle physical changes. Either way, this world was simply far too weird for him. He had to get out of here. "The point is, leave!" Kaiba snapped. "Now, get out of my way...I have things to do."

Kaiba walked through them, and continued to walk on with them giving him questioning looks. Mokuba muttered, "I don't think that's him. It's a decoy. He has to still be inside!"

'You've got to be kidding me.' he thought. But before Kaiba could even turn and say anything, he was suddenly surrounded by weird shrouded people with Millennium Eye's tattooed on them.

Tristan cried, "Wait, guys! Seto's in trouble, again!"

"Not again..." Mokuba muttered. "Maybe that 'is' my brother."

Tea freaked, "Oh, my god! We have the Kaiba's on one side, and rare hunters on the other! We're all gonna die! Let me out of here!"

"Tea, you've got to have faith in our friendship!" the Yami, that looked like Yugi, said. "Remember, the friendship circle that Seto made for us. Tell her, Seto!"

'I think I'm going to get ill.' Kaiba thought. He turned towards the rare hunters, saying, "If you're looking for rare cards, you should try facing Kaiba in the mansion. That loser's holding one of your god cards."

They all turned to face the mansion. While distracted, Kaiba headed back to the others, grabbed Mokuba, and dragged him out of the crowd. "This isn't our battle. Let's go."

"What the hell are you doing?" Mokuba asked. "You're telling me you'd be willing to abandon your friends? Since when?"

Kaiba turned and glared down at Mokuba, "First of all, watch your language. Second of all, they're not my friends! Listen...I'm not from this world. I'm your brother, from a different reality. I'm sure the sooner I'm out of here, the sooner you can have your loser brother back with you. But until then, I'm not going to abandon you, while you're in danger surrounded by lunatics!"

Mokuba suddenly pulled out of Kaiba's hand, surprising Kaiba just how strong Mokuba was. Then again, he did see him in action, earlier. "Wait a minute...are you saying you're trying to protect 'me'? This has to be some kind of joke."

Kaiba smiled. "Believe me...the feeling's mutual. I'm the one that should be protecting you. I 'am' the older brother, after all. You shouldn't have to protect me...that's my job."

Mokuba blinked, then slowly smiled. "Wow. You really are something. Dunno if that's good or bad, though. But, really...don't worry 'bout protecting me. I can take care of myself. We were never really that close, anyway."

"That's a shame." Kaiba said in all honesty. "I'm sorry for failing you in this world. It's hard to believe I could ever be that worthless towards you."

"Hey...don't be like that." Mokuba smiled. "Listen...you just go, and I'll make sure to stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Don't go back there, Mokuba. I mean it." Kaiba said.

Mokuba gave him a slight punch in the arm, saying, "Yeah, well...you watch yourself, too. Don't do anything stupid."

"I wont." Kaiba pulled out the box, and poofed away to the next universe.


	18. C18 Mokuba and the Movies

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C18 Mokuba and the Movies **_

In a moment's flash, Kaiba was now in another world. He was still recovered from the shock and mixed emotions from the last world. Joey a good duelist, Mokuba and him reversing roles...it was all too strange. Kaiba buried those memories aside, refusing to believe such a reality could ever be possible. He had only stayed in fear that this version of himself had somehow failed his battle with Gozaburo or Pegasus. But, that wasn't the case at all. He wasn't even the same person in that world. The reason he originally he had to delay his travels quickly faded.

He thought a moment about the Seto, whose world he was trying to find. If anything, that world only proved more that if Seto had tried to make the trip, he would have failed. 'I am the only one for this job. Seto has no place here. He is a failure, and I'll have to make up for his weakness.'

Now, he was in another world version. Once again, the device made it look like he never moved...the only things that may have changed were the objects and people around him. Kaiba looked around his new environment to see he was alone in what appeared to be the mansion. 'Humph. It seems like another universe where I live here.' he thought.

Kaiba hated having no clue where he was. He looked down at the box, muttering, "Too bad this thing doesn't have a channel for every new place I traveled to." Kaiba's mind then thought of what an advantage it could be for him, if he could keep track of all these dimensions, and create a device of his own that could send him to these places. The money and power he could make if he was able to control where to go.

Kaiba then smirked, wondering if maybe Aiko thought of that. 'Maybe that's why this thing doesn't have much control to it. She was supposed to know me, wasn't she? Or at least an assumed past life of mine.' Kaiba grunted, still in disbelief.

Kaiba was pulled from those thoughts, as he thought he heard faint voices. Finally putting the box away, he left the room and headed for the main entree way. That was where he heard the two voices...one of which was easily recognizable. It was Joey's.

"Yeah, I'll get out of your hair, now. You sure you don't want me around... for some support maybe?" Joey asked.

A stranger's voice answered, "It's okay, Joey... I can handle this. If everything works out, we'll be on top again.

Now you get going and watch yourself. Those streets can be dangerous out there."

"You better believe it. Smell ya later." Joey answered and left, as the stranger closed the door.

Kaiba left the hallway, peering at the stranger who had been talking...he still had no idea who this guy was. It was a man in his late twenties with short dark hair...except for the rat-tail in back that barely went passed his shoulders. His face was perfectly shaved, wearing a rich gray business suit, and he was nearly as tall as Kaiba was. As the man turned towards Kaiba, he froze in his tracks, looking at Kaiba as if he had seen a ghost.

Kaiba approached the man, looking down threateningly at him. "Who are you? What are you doing in my home?"

"S... Se...Seto...?" The man said, bringing a hand out as if to touch him, yet seeming afraid to, as if Kaiba was going to disappear. He touched Kaiba on the shoulder, seeming to be even more shocked.

Kaiba grabbed the man by the tie and pulled him over to him face to face, as he snapped, "I want answers, now!"

Kaiba had been ignoring the weird emotional look on the man's face from his presence, not impressed with what he was seeing. But as he pulled on the man's collar, a brown leather strap hidden underneath got his attention.

With his other hand, Kaiba grabbed hold of the strap, pulling it out from underneath the man's suit... and Kaiba's eyes widened with shock. "It...it can't be..." he said, looking back at the man who's blue eyes reflected his own.

"B-big brother..." The man said, his eyes beginning to tear.

"Mokuba...?" Kaiba asked, his voice immediately softening, as the similarity in some of his facial features he finally began to see. It was Mokuba...it really was him...

"Big brother!" He emotionally bellowed out and hugged Kaiba tightly, with a lot more strength than Kaiba was used to his little brother having. Then again, he was used to Mokuba being almost 1/2 his size. With slight hesitation he hugged him back, as the reality of this situation came into play. Why would Mokuba be so shocked and ecstatic to see him, unless...Kaiba wasn't around in this world at all. Is he dead in this world, too? Mokuba wasn't shocked on the age difference, merely the presence itself of Kaiba being there. He hugged Mokuba back, saying, "I suppose I have some explaining to do..."

"You're alive... that's all that matters!" Mokuba said, trying to stifle his sniffing, but he couldn't stop the tears from coming out.

"You don't understand...this isn't exactly my world." Kaiba tried to explain calmly.

Mokuba looked up, his eyes looking a bit puffy now, as he asked, "What?"

Back in Kaiba's office room, he showed Mokuba the magic box and explained to him how he got here and why he was traveling between dimensions. He put the box back, finishing with, "...so you see, I can't really stick around. I'm sorry, kiddo."

Mokuba looked downtrodden and nodded sadly, saying, "I guess I should have expected it was too good to be true. But... at least now I know somewhere out there, you're still around." He gave Kaiba a weak smile; yet still looking sad. Then he pulled some tissue out, trying to get cleaned up, saying, "Geez, I almost forgot. I'm expecting some important people over any time now and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about it."

"A meeting, huh? First...can I ask what happened to me?" Kaiba asked.

"A sniper took you out years ago; you were a little older than you are now." Mokuba said. "I took over from there and kept Kaiba Corp going. I got some great developers working under me...under us." Mokuba smiled, "But there's never been anyone to be able to come even close to what you did."

'Assassinated... I should have known.' "So how's the company doing?" he asked.

Mokuba didn't look very reassuring, at that. "We've taken some pretty bad hits, Seto. The technology industry took a slump in lack of interest, hurting the electronics industry right across the board. Then we've had some wars waging across the world that ended up putting both Japan 'and' the US into a recession. Kaiba Corp I'm afraid isn't doing too well." Mokuba then said with greater confident, "That's why this meeting is so important. The people I'm meeting with are the main heads of the movie production industry across the globe. If I can impress them enough to move Kaiba Corp into the movie industry, we could become even bigger than we used to be and be back on our feet in no time!"

"The movie industry? How could we affect the movie industry?" Kaiba asked.

Mokuba said, "By changing the whole world the way we see things. Instead of the normal movie screens, or the 3d crap they use, we can revolutionize the movies by combining our holographic system with our virtual reality systems. We also have in the works something we've been calling 'real holographs'. That's holographic technology that's so real, it even feels solid... as solid as you and me. The problem is that we've been so low in our funds lately, that we can't afford to continue with the work. That's why we need to really impress these people in today's meeting...cause if we do, they sign in and offer Kaiba Corp all the funding we need."

"Then go 'wow' 'em, kid." Kaiba smiled.

Mokuba offered a weak smile at Kaiba's confidence in him, saying, "Thanks, big brother. But I'm afraid that's not going to be so easy. Our speaker couldn't make it today. All I have here is the creator of the solid holographic technology and...well, she's no people-person. I'm afraid if I send her out there alone, that she'll blow it. I'm going to try to help and support her all I can, but I wasn't really prepared myself to be doing this. I'm just really nervous I won't be able to pull it off. This is Kaiba Corp's last hope, Seto. If I screw this up...it's over." Mokuba turned away, feeling shame like he was the cause of why the company was in this bad of shape, even though he clearly stated already that it was out of his hands due to changing world around him.

Kaiba put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder, saying, "Relax, kid...you want me to take care of it?"

Mokuba looked over at him, saying, "But... but you can't. You're not even supposed to be alive. Do you know what a media frenzy that would cause for anyone to see you again?"

Kaiba put his hand on Mokuba's shoulder, saying, "Hey... would I ever steer you wrong? Do you want to see your big brother in action one more time before I leave?"

"Yes... I'd love that." Mokuba answered, getting teary-eyed again.

"Then leave it to me. What I want you to do is send your technology wiz out there alone to go talk to them. I know, I know... you said she's terrible with people. That's fine. Remember that sometimes meetings can be nothing more than a large play, especially when it comes to the movie industry. To get the best result out of them, it's sometimes good to first throw a nice comedy act out. Taking your opponents off-guard can be your best advantage. Trust me." Kaiba said, giving a smirk.

At that moment, the intercom came to life, saying, "Mr. Kaiba sir...the men have arrived for your meeting."

"Okay, well bring them into the meeting room." Mokuba said then looked over at his brother. "Okay, I'll send Natalie down."

"Natalie? You're on a first-name basis with your head of technology?" Kaiba asked.

Mokuba smiled, saying, "She's also my girlfriend."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I can't do this! I can't do this!" Natalie whined, as Mokuba pushed her towards the meeting room door.

"Don't worry, Natalie...I have absolute faith in you that you can pull this off. Just give them your best charm, like you did with me." Mokuba said, pushing her in front.

She looked nervously to Mokuba, saying, "Mokuba, if I do this... this deal's gonna fall through and I'm going to be responsible to being the downfall of Kaiba, Corp."

"No you won't... trust me. I have a plan. Just give 'em your best shot, that's all I ask!" Mokuba said. Natalie couldn't believe Mokuba's confidence. Last night, he had been up all night worried about what he was going to do, since his sales spokesman got in an accident and was in the hospital.

Before she could protest further, Mokuba entered through the door into the meeting room. It was a large room, surrounded by chairs at the opposite end and along the sides. A few small tables were placed in-between. All the men involved in movie production were sitting down, looking menacingly at the two that entered. A few had gotten a cup of coffee from the small table that was offering it to them, some of them even looked bored, like they couldn't wait to get this over with and leave. Over the men's heads, hanging on the far wall was a large portrait of the founder of Kaiba Industry, dressed in his white gaming trench coat, Seto Kaiba. Since this company was now a gaming and technology corp, they never acknowledged Gozaburo or any of his relatives being the original founder and instead put Seto Kaiba's plaque on the wall...Mokuba's pride and joy.

"Gentlemen..." Mokuba said in a professional voice, "I give you Ms. Walker, the developer in Kaiba Corp's latest technology." Mokuba then moved over and took a corner seat, to watch what Natalie had to say, looking at the open doorway, as he thought, 'Seto... I hope you know what you're doing.'

Natalie gulped, looking extremely nervous, making herself look terrible in front of these men, who were more than ready to chew her up from her show of weakness. She brought up her little holographic display that looked kind of like an hourglass without the glass or sand and activated it; showing what looked like the outline of a person, though not complete to make the person look like anyone. She cleared her throat and squeaked, "This is a display of the new technology for Kaiba Corp. It's known as solid holographic technology and uh...as you can see it's solid." As if to prove her point, the Natalie lamely poked at the object to show her finger did not pass through the hologram and seemed to actually move it.

The men looked rather bored and definitely unimpressed, like they were about ready to leave. Some impatiently looked at their watches, as if hoping it was over, all ready.

By this time, Natalie was so nervous, she thought she was going to cry and was just about on the verge of it. 'I'm blowing it... Kaiba Corp will crash and burn and it will be all my fault!' She swallowed hard and announced to them, "I have faith in this company and I know it can give you all that you need." Now in a quieter tone, she squeaked out, "If you can only give us a chance to prove it to you..." She was ready to collapse in tears, but she suddenly stopped and calmed down, noticing the strange changes in the men's faces.

To her surprise, all the men now looked upon her wide-eyed with pure shock on their faces. 'What did I say? What did I say to them?' she thought to herself, as she began to back away in confusion.

She had barely backed up an inch, before running into someone behind her. Natalie then looked up to see who she ran into, and found cold chiseled face scowling down at her.

She immediately moved away, looking at him as the man's expression changed to a cocky smirk. An instant later, recognition suddenly came to her, and Natalie turned as white as a ghost. Her head whipped over the heads of the men she was talking to, gawking at the portrait of Kaiba Corp's founder. She then looked back at the man standing there - comparing the looks between them, then did it all over again in pure astonishment. It was the Seto Kaiba, and even dressed in the same dramatic white trench coat. Was she seeing things...was she dreaming? Could her faith in the company somehow have summoned forth the dead spirit of the founder, himself?

Kaiba looked down, smirking at this emotional wreck of a woman, thinking, 'pathetic' and wondering if she was truly worthy of his brother's affections. 'Hurt my brother woman, and I'll come back to find you and make you pay...' he thought. Kaiba finally said, "You can sit down, now." ordering her away.

Natalie backed up and quickly took a seat next to Mokuba, who had a very worried look on his face. 'Seto, how are you going to pull this off? There's going to be questions after this... everyone's going to want to know why you're alive? Didn't you think of that? What will I tell the reporters, when they catch word?'

Kaiba now re-directed himself back to the shocked looks of the producers. Even those that didn't know him could tell the exact resemblance to the picture and realized they were facing a supposed 'dead' man. Kaiba crossed his arms defiantly, daring any man here to challenge his glare, making it apparent who was now in charge of this meeting. He then began to speak. "Gentlemen... for those of you who do not recognize me, I am Seto Kaiba, the head of Kaiba Corporation."

'What is he doing? He's admitting who he is!' Mokuba thought, becoming even more worried. 'Damn it, why does my brother always have to be such an egotist?' and began to wonder why he never let himself notice this when he was still alive.

"I am here today to introduce to you the new innovative technology of this corporation." Kaiba continued to say. As he did, he began to calmly walk towards them, to ensure all get a very good look at him, for some reason...only making Mokuba more and more panicked. "As I'm sure you are all aware, Kaiba Corporation has always been on top when it came to new and exciting development in electronics, and it still is...that I would personally stake my reputation on." As he continued to speak, he arrogantly picked up on of the men's coffee cups, taking a sip from it and putting it back down, confusing the man as to why he just did that.

Again, Kaiba turned away, pacing a bit, as he continued to speak, saying, "I can guarantee you that our company can offer you the next leap in entertainment and development for the movie industry. People have become bored, no longer interested in the same antiquated way of movies you have been offering them for years, without difference. It's time for a change, gentlemen. It's time to impress your audience once again with something new and fantastic. Picture a real live hologram that can reach over and touch someone..." As he said this, he grabs onto the sleeve of one of the people, as an example. The man pulls away gruffly, still confused what Kaiba is trying to make a point with, equally curious why they were witnessing a dead man come to life.

"...one that could grab something and throw it, as if that hologram was just as real as yourselves. Being able to feel the hologram, as if it was really there. This is what Kaiba Corp. is here today to offer you." Kaiba continued to say, facing the group. Then suddenly, something happened that the entire group noticed. A sudden distortion was seen in Kaiba's right shoulder...it fizzled and popped, before looking normal again.

Everyone looked wide-eyed, realization finally hitting them. They weren't watching the dead Seto Kaiba come to life...they were facing one of Kaiba Corp's holograms! As if the hologram itself knew and sensed the distortion, he glanced over at his shoulder, then back at the men and smirked evilly.

Mokuba now realized what Kaiba was doing and smiled, 'I should have never doubted my brother. You did it, Seto!' While Natalie is as shocked as the men at the meeting were. She couldn't understand how Mokuba pulled it off...they were nowhere close to perfecting the technology of a solid hologram, and wouldn't either without the proper funding from the people in this meeting today.

"That is correct, gentlemen...this is a true example of the solid holographic technology. This is what I'm offering you." Kaiba said, bringing his hands out and even giving a slight nod to his head, like an almost bow... like an actor finishing his play to an audience.

All the men stood and cheered immediately, totally impressed by what Kaiba Corporation was able to show them today. They've never felt or seen such a realistic hologram in their lives. This was more than a computer-created Seto Kaiba. Until they saw the distortion, they truly felt it 'was' Seto Kaiba. It was like Mokuba Kaiba had somehow planted the true spirit of the founder of the company into this hologram. Like he was right there, standing before them all.

As they cheered, Mokuba stood with pride, approaching Kaiba, placing an arm around him, saying, "Gentlemen, my brother and the founder of Kaiba Corporation, Seto Kaiba...our prototype in Kaiba Corp's latest technology." Kaiba smiled over at his brother Mokuba...his words and timing were perfect, as Kaiba had expected.

Then suddenly...the lights went off, surprising everyone. Mokuba felt his brother suddenly slip away and called out, "No one panic...it's simply a minor power-out, probably due to the excess energy that was used to power the prototype holographic image. I'm sure it'll come back on in a minute..."

Indeed, the lights came back on and the image of Seto Kaiba was gone...as if it was never there. Natalie walked over, whispering, "How the hell did you do that?"

"I'll explain later." He whispered back.

They immediately approached with smiles. One said, "I have to admit, Mr. Kaiba...when you sent that woman over with that ridiculous model, you really had me fooled that 'that' was all you had to offer us. I am impressed."

"How in the world did you manage to create a hologram that can sip a cup of coffee?" another asked.

"The hologram made it 'look' like he drank from your coffee, but it didn't. The solidity of the hologram actually kept it from spilling over." Mokuba lied.

"That is amazing!" The same person said.

Another said, "And when you have it touch my arm...I couldn't believe it was anything but a real person! How did you make it feel as warm as a real touch?"

"That's easy. The holographic imaging is automatically warm from the power being used. The hard part is keeping the temperature stable." Mokuba explained.

Another man approached, and shook Mokuba's hand, saying, "You have us all convince, Mr. Kaiba. We are ready to sign on the dotted line and begin support with Kaiba Corporation."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in Kaiba's office, Kaiba had already taken the blue straps off, and hanging them up in the closet. He was wondering why he kept running into versions of him that had this style trench coat, and wondered if he should order this unique style when he got back home. He had to admit...he liked the coat. It was comfortable, too.

He just began to shrug the trench coat off, when suddenly the doorbell rang. "Damn." he muttered. Mokuba was busy with the meeting and he didn't want him disturbed. Also, Kaiba wasn't sure who was working to answer the door, since they were supposedly not doing very well, financially...they probably cut back on the help. Keeping his white trench coat on, he quickly left the office room and opened the door.

"Hey, Mokuba. Listen, I forgot my..." Joey said, suddenly shutting up, as he looked up at the scowling face of Kaiba. "No... way..."

Kaiba snarled and grabbed his sleeve, saying, "Hurry up and get in, already!" Kaiba closed the door and practically dragged him into the office room, closing the door behind them both.

"Hey, stop! What...?" Joey sputtered out, being dragged down the hall.

Inside, Kaiba snapped quietly, "Keep it down! These walls aren't soundproof, you know. Now, what the hell do you want?" As he asked this, he pulled off his trench coat, hanging it up in the closet.

"Uh... why are you alive?" Joey asked.

"Still stupid as ever, I see." Kaiba muttered. "Do I look like the Kaiba you would know?"

"Yes." Joey said.

"Don't you think I should be a little older, then? Like, perhaps say...your age?" Kaiba asked.

Joey had to be close to 30 by now, while Kaiba didn't look a day older than 17. "Well...ghosts don't really age, do they?"

"Do ghosts also drag you around, like the dog that you are?" Kaiba smirked.

"Well, you certainly act like Kaiba! And why are you so worried about how loud you are?" Joey asked.

"Because there's a meeting in the other room, and I just convinced those fools in there that I'm a hologram." He said, pulling off his sweatshirt.

"Uh... okay, I believe you." Joey said, not wanting to argue. "So, if you're not Kaiba...why do you look and act like him? And...geez, where'd you get all those scars from?"

"Will you stop asking about the scars, already?" Kaiba snapped, tired of hearing it. It sounded almost like the exact question that Joey from the first universe asked him.

While Joey sat wondering when he ever asked him about scars before, Kaiba grabbed for the shirt he was originally wearing before the switch, and sighed. "It's a long story. I have an item that somehow brought me to some kind of...alternate reality. I'm not going to explain much more than that. I have to get going."

"You're going now?" Joey asked.

"I'm waiting for Mokuba...then I'm going." Kaiba said.

"You mean, Mokuba's not really from here, either?" Joey asked.

Kaiba glared, snapping, "I'm not answering anymore of your stupid questions."

Mokuba finished with the meeting, and ran back in totally excited. "Seto...we got the contract! You were great!" He bolted over and hugged his brother, while Kaiba braced himself better this time for the added weight and size.

Natalie came in after him, looking the scene over and appearing as confused as Joey was. "But how did you make him seem so real?"

Mokuba turned, surprised by Natalie's question, while Kaiba simply rolled his eyes. "Don't you get it? He's not really a hologram...he's actually my brother!"

"Huh?" she asked. "But, he's..."

"Hey, we're on the same page, here." Joey said, agreeing with Natalie. "What's Kaiba doing alive? Don't tell me the one that got shot was a fake! And I even bought flowers for that funeral!"

Kaiba simply shook his head, feeling himself getting stupider just by the presence in this room. Mokuba chuckled, saying, "It's not like that, Joey. This is Seto...but he's not from here. He's from another reality."

Both Natalie and Joey just stared at Mokuba, from the comment he made. Joey then snapped, "Oh, is that all? Is this supposed to be something normal? Oh, yeah...Kaiba from another dimension just popped in to say hello! Will he be back to visit next week, or is that the 'other' Kaiba from another dimension coming over?"

"Stupid mutt." Kaiba muttered, shaking his head.

"Well...I don't get it." Natalie said. "Why is he here?"

Kaiba turned away, allowing Mokuba to take charge and explain everything for him. It was actually refreshing to have someone else explain instead of him for a change. It was almost tempting to drag him along...almost. Kaiba didn't need to mess up any more realities with two of them wandering around. Besides...after the last reality, he didn't want to even consider getting Mokuba into any danger similar to that.

"So...how long is he staying?" Joey asked.

Kaiba turned, saying, "Actually, I'm leaving."

"You can't stay even a little bit?" Mokuba asked.

It hurt Kaiba to not be able to give Mokuba his request...but he couldn't. The more time he wasted may place the other Mokuba from that world in greater danger. "Sorry, kiddo...I just can't."

Mokuba smiled. "I understand."

Kaiba then suddenly turned and focused all attention on Natalie. "So, this is your girlfriend, then..."

"That's right!" Mokuba said proudly. "Natalie, you didn't say hello to my brother, yet."

"A h-hello..." she said, putting up a shaky hand.

Kaiba didn't accepted, and simply glared at her. "You better be good to him." he warned her, causing her to freeze in fear.

He then turned away from her, no longer acknowledging her, as he said to his brother, "I'll see you around, kiddo."

"Kaiba, wait!" Joey suddenly blurted out.

Kaiba turned towards Joey, asking, "What is it, Mutt?"

"Well, it was... good to see you again. Hasn't really been the same without you, you know?" Joey said. It was something he really didn't want to admit, but he felt he had to. He really did miss not having Kaiba around to pick on, or be picked on. It was something he thought he would never feel in a million years...until the day he heard that Kaiba was murdered.

Kaiba smirked, teasing, "Don't tell me you're going to get all emotional on me, now. I didn't know you cared."

"Shut up." Joey muttered.

"Besides, according to Yugi's belief...I'm nothing more than some reincarnated priest. So, if that's the case...I guess you should be worried. Because no matter how many times I die, I'll be back." Kaiba taunted him.

"That's pretty scary!" Joey admitted, no longer wanting to believe the ancient Egyptian legends, now.

'Maybe they should have written that on my tombstone.' Kaiba thought, actually liking those as final words. It would make a nice final jab to all his enemies. But he said nothing more...everything stated was all ready all he had to say.

So, taking out the box, he gave them one final nod and let it send him to the next world...hoping he would finally reach his destination.


	19. C19 Heart to Heart

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. Edited by yamisgirl

As said at the start of this story to those who actually read the author notes. The story underwent major renovations. This is one. Originally it was more than one chapter. But going back over it Clarity felt it too much like chapter 18, so it had to be rewritten.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C19 Heart to Heart** _

Kaiba appeared in the mansion once again. It appeared to be night, and all was quiet. Kaiba was in what was supposed to be one of the experiment rooms in the mansion. But instead, the room was revamped to look like an old hospital room. That alone was creepy.

As he stepped out of the room and moved across the house, he continued to have this eerie feeling as if someone was watching him. He tried to shake it off, but kept alert incase he ran into a situation while the house was perhaps being robbed.

After turning the next hallway, Kaiba stopped immediately to notice something familiar. Though it wasn't in the same room as the last dimension, once again he found himself staring at a large portrait of himself on the wall.

Kaiba himself knew he would never toss a picture of himself on a wall like that...it made him feel too much like Gozaburo. But from his experiences in the various dimensions so far, he was easily starting to see a pattern...and he didn't like it one bit.

"Shit." he muttered sourly at the picture, realizing this meant he was yet again probably dead, somehow. But was it because he was murdered, or was it because Mokuba became ill? He was hoping it was the first...he was really hoping it was the first. He hated the idea that so many dimensions would show Mokuba getting ill and dying. After all...if that's the case, then what's that mean for 'his' world? Was Mokuba destined to die?

Well, one way for him to tell what world this was like was to find out if he still existed in this world. Thinking about the dimension where he was a computer, he remembered he had full control of all the computer systems there...from business, to security. With that in mind, Kaiba glanced over at the nearest camera to see if it was looking his way. Sure enough...the camera was pointing right at him.

'Well...that explains the strange feeling of being watched.' he thought. Kaiba then turned and moved a bit, noticing the obvious movement of the camera that kept angled in his direction.

Kaiba stopped, crossed his arms, and smirked. "Maybe I should find the nearest computer system." he thought out loud, deciding the best way to get information with this possible other version of 'him' would be through the computer.

"If you think that's going to deactivate the security system...I'm afraid you're highly mistaken." a voice said from behind him, which sounded just like him...and obviously this other him misunderstood Kaiba's intentions on the computer.

Kaiba whirled around, not expecting to hear a voice directly behind him...but found no one there. "Where are you?" Kaiba asked, and then angrily snapped. "Show yourself!"

"Keep it down!" computer Kaiba snapped back, as he materialized in thin air, which looked like small pixelized pieces coming together before him. "If you wake my brother, I 'will' make you pay!"

Kaiba was amazed. It was clearly a holographic form of himself, that simply appeared right in mid-air. How did he do it? Where's the projectors that made it happen? He was too intrigued by this modification of himself to care about anything else at the moment, and approached...bringing his hand up to make contact with the image.

Computer Kaiba didn't seem to have a problem with it. If anything, he reacted to this other Kaiba by the see-through parts of him seeming to solidify even more before his eyes. And as it did, so did the hologram itself...becoming a solid image.

Kaiba made contact to the solid image of himself...it was even warm to the touch. Not warm like a human body, but warm like a luke-warm electronic heating element. He then paused, looking into the other Kaiba's eyes to view his reaction to all this.

Computer Kaiba crossed his arms, and narrowed his eyes. He did not look amused.

Kaiba then stepped back, mimicking the arm mannerisms, as he offered this hologram a smirk. "So, he did it. In this world, Mokuba succeeded in creating solid holograms. Is he making a deal with the movie industry, as well?"

"Movie Industry? Why would he do that?" CKaiba asked.

Kaiba nodded. "I see. So, what does he use this technology for?"

"For the moment, he uses it for me." CKaiba said. He eyed this Kaiba curiously, adding, "You're not very surprised by my appearance. And from what I can tell...you appear to be me. You can't be a break-in, either. I saw you appear out of nowhere. Who and what 'are' you?"

"You probably figured this much out, by now...I'm you." Kaiba answered. He then took a moment to once again explain himself and the box, and why he was traveling world to world.

"So, what's your story?" Kaiba asked. "I've all ready been in a world similar to this one. Mokuba was dying, and you sacrificed yourself for him."

At that thought, Kaiba lowered his head. "Don't tell me that Mokuba looks like you, as well..."

"Why would he look like me?" CKaiba asked.

"Then, what happened? Why are you in a machine?" Kaiba asked. "You...'are' part of the machine, aren't you?"

CKaiba hesitated, not liking the similarity of the basics thrown back at him from another dimension. This was happening to Mokuba more then this world? It was hard enough dealing with what happened to Mokuba here. "Your story is actually closer than I'd like to admit. Mokuba was sick, but the doctors were able to narrow down the source of this illness. His heart was being attacked and was dying because of it. If they could get a heart transplant, they could save him. Unfortunately, there was no one we could find that was compatible..."

"...except for one." Kaiba finished, understanding perfectly. "So, at least he's still himself. But aren't heart transplants risky?"

"Not in this day and age...at least not in my world; and especially not if he could find one as compatible as the two of us were." CKaiba answered. "So, who is this Aiko? To create such a device that can travel various dimensions, she must be one of your top techs."

Kaiba looked away, refusing to accept the concept of magic. "No, she's not. I never asked her where she got it from." he answered. "It does its job, but it's not very well controlled. You have to keep changing the pattern to reach another world. It certainly could have been designed better...but it's all she could offer."

CKaiba suddenly turned abruptly, saying, "He's up..."

"Who, Mokuba?" Kaiba asked. "Good. Since he's up...I'll talk to him, as well."

"The hell you will." CKaiba snapped. "He's had a difficult enough time dealing with never being able to have a brother again. Do you think he needs someone like you to remind him of what he's lost? Get out of here, quick! Go in there!" CKaiba pointed.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Kaiba snapped. "After what Mokuba's all ready been through, I doubt a little visit from another version of him is going to hurt him any."

CKaiba glared dangerously at Kaiba, as the automatic door behind him opened and the computer version of himself extended his hand. "You're not going to upset him. And if you can't understand that, then that's your problem."

Kaiba cried out, as a jolt of electricity shot through him...launching him through the recently opened door. But CKaiba miscalculated, and it wasn't enough to send him all the way through the door. Kaiba instead landed in-between...keeping the door from closing.

"Seto, what are you...?" Mokuba asked, as he came around the corner, hearing the strange combination of electricity crackling and somebody crying out. He immediately began to worry that a robber broke-in. But was surprised when the intruder sat up and it was...his brother?

Mokuba asked curiously, "Are you doubling yourself again, or is that some impersonator? If that's you, you really gotta stop fighting with yourself so much."

Still recovering from the sudden electric jolt, Kaiba looked over to see Mokuba. He was just about as young as his Mokuba...a couple years older. He also seemed to have finally gotten that haircut Kaiba's wanted to give him. But otherwise, he'd say he looks just the same.

"Yes...he's obviously an impersonator. Don't worry about it, Mokuba...I'll take care of the intruder." CKaiba said.

"Impersonator?" Kaiba snarled, now recovered enough to stand and argue with his computer self. "Who the hell are you calling an impersonator?" Kaiba then threatened, "And you hit me with one more of those electric attacks again, and maybe I'll decide to seek out your wiring and find out how well you can handle a power-outage."

CKaiba's eyes narrowed, snapping back, "Just try it...I dare you. You wouldn't make it two feet."

During this time, Mokuba was watching these two argue with each other, and realization suddenly hit him. "Wait a minute, you're...you're really Seto!" Mokuba said, pointing at Kaiba. He couldn't believe it, but there was no other explanation. 'No one' could impersonate his brother like that! "But... how?"

Kaiba gave the hologram one last glare, then turned back to face Mokuba. "Mokuba...I hope I didn't upset you." he said in the gentle tone he normally used for his brother. "I'm not from this world."

Though it was annoying for Kaiba to realize once again he was going to have to explain himself, for Mokuba he was ready to say what he had to. "Listen...to make a long version short, I have a device that let's me jump into other realities. I'm trying to get back home and this isn't it." No...it wasn't home he was trying to reach, but it was a lot easier to explain than trying to save yet another version of Mokuba.

But instead of appearing upset like CKaiba feared, Mokuba instead smiled, saying, "Wow, really? You're from another world? That's great! That means, that means..."

Mokuba's smiling face remained smiling yet had kind of a sad look to it, too. "That means, even though you're not the Seto I know, you're still somewhere out there where Seto is still himself. That's good to know."

With Mokuba's words, the gears began to turn in CKaiba's head, as an idea came to mind. He then turned and sneered coldly at Kaiba, muttering, "But, who's to say it has to stay that way?"

Kaiba's eyes widened instantly from the comment, taking a step back. His hands were slowly moving towards his pocket where the Aiko's box was.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked, not understanding.

"Why simply settle for being what I am now? Maybe while you're here...I should give you the tour of just what I am capable of doing, now." CKaiba hissed.

Before Kaiba could grab for the item and get the hell out of there, CKaiba's holographic image vanished and the essence of the computer instantly attacked Kaiba's mind.

Kaiba cried out in agony, as he struggled to stay in control. Both versions equally dominant and ready to fight to the end for control over the body. Kaiba slumped to his knees, as the battle of his mind continued.

As this continued...somewhere in the distance they heard Mokuba's cries. "Stop it! Seto, stop it!"

'You heard him. This is 'my' body! Get out!' Kaiba told him.

CKaiba told him, 'Mokuba hasn't seen his own brother as anything but a machine for the last few years. Don't you think he'd like to see that? Give me a few minutes with him...something I haven't been able to have for too long, now. I'm not asking for much...just a few minutes. Give me this, and then we'll swap back.'

'You invaded my mind trying to forcibly take my body from me, and you think I should trust you?' Kaiba asked.

'But, I'm you. Shouldn't you trust me?' CKaiba asked.

Kaiba retorted. 'Obviously, you've been this way for far too long. What makes you think I've 'ever' trusted myself?'

'Good point. But think about it this way...where could I possibly go? If I don't give this body back, you'll learn enough about the computer soon enough to easily attack me back. And I would never use the device to leave, and you know why. Even if I can run into a thousand other Mokuba's in whatever worlds you have traveled, they would never be able to replace my own. I could never leave him. So, I promise...I will give it back. All I ask is a few minutes with him, to feel myself being able to embrace him again just one more time.'

It almost sounded like pleading. Kaiba could relate the desperation this other one probably felt inside the machine for so long. Of course, Kaiba did not believe in pity, hand-outs, or favors. But he did believe in pleasing Mokuba. And CKaiba was right...Mokuba would probably love to have one more chance to come in contact with his other brother again. The least he could do is give him that.

Mokuba watched as Kaiba struggled with himself on the ground, while pleading for his brother to stop fighting with him. A moment later...he finally stopped. Kaiba took a few breaths, and slowly stood back up.

"S-Seto? W-which one are you?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba turned and smiled, facing Mokuba. "Mokuba..." He whispered. Mokuba could tell instantly which one it was from the emotion in his eyes, filling with such joy to be there for him. CKaiba hugged Mokuba for the first time in years. Tears streamed down his eyes...unable to contain it, as he said hoarsely, "It's so good to feel you again..."

From a distance, Kaiba slowly materialized in holographic form. He watched the sight before him, and decided that letting go of his own humanity - even for a few minutes, was the right decision. He only hoped he wasn't going to regret it...he knew himself and still didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. He was certain that if CKaiba could figure out a way to steal his body and stay in the same dimension, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

But, at the same time...Kaiba was also quite fascinated with his mental connections to the computer. Never actually experiencing this before, he could sense himself connected to literally everything around him. He was able to materialize anywhere in the house, which had electronic pads in both the floors and ceiling of the entire house. He was in contact with every file, every camera, every building from Japan to America. It was like his mind had been expanded to an unlimited space, while his physical form was the cost for his mental freedoms. Kaiba was one who was normally drawn to power, and the sensation of all this knowledge being thruster into his head made quite a rush. But the lack of feeling made such a terrible emptiness on a person...he couldn't imagine being this way for as long as any version of himself has been.

But being logically minded, his mind immediately reached the access of their real holographic technology. It could always come in handy in the future, afterall. And that wasn't the only thing he came in contact with. He found out why that one room was turned to look like a hospital room. It was where they both made the necessary heart transfers...in the privacy of their home, where no one would find out what they did. And no one knew of Mokuba's heart condition...simply that Kaiba was killed from a shooter. Talk about a cover-up.

While...CKaiba just held onto his brother, as Mokuba held him back tightly. "Seto, it's so good to be with you again. I couldn't imagine ever being able to do this with you, anymore." He tried not to think about the other Kaiba for the moment. But since the other wasn't fighting back, he could assume an agreement must have taken place. No way would any version of his brother ever back down so easily, otherwise.

"I could stay here forever." CKaiba said. "I don't ever want this to end..."

"Well, don't get 'too' comfortable...you agreed this would only be temporary." Kaiba muttered.

Mokuba pulled away, looking at the holographic form. He then looked at his brother, and smiled. "I figured you two had to agree on something. No way could the fight be over this quick, otherwise."

"You just better still keep your word." Kaiba added. "Just remember...I'm a fast learner. And I think I all ready know how to attack you, if you decided to re-nig on your agreement."

"I don't break my promises." CKaiba snapped. He was also sure this other Kaiba was just itching to fry him and get even for that little electrical jolt, earlier. But he knew he'd never do that with Mokuba present...and especially so near.

CKaiba looked back down at Mokuba, saying, "I suppose we'll just have to settle with this moment we had."

"It's more than either of us could have hoped for." Mokuba said to his brother, sadly.

Kaiba sadly looked down at Mokuba, dreading the idea of disappointing any version of him. "I'm sorry." he said to him. "Unfortunately, there's nothing more I can offer you."

"Hey!" Mokuba said, suddenly lightening up. "You once told me that you could never share my body, because you were afraid you'd live my life. But what about you two sharing 'your' body! You're both the same person!"

Both Kaiba's smiled at Mokuba, who was trying so hard. But at the same time, they also both understood it was not possible. "You have to realize that wouldn't work." CKaiba said to his brother. "He's not from this world...and I couldn't expect him to abandon his Mokuba for you. And then I'd be responsible for making another version of you suffer because of my own selfishness. I wouldn't do that as much as I wouldn't leave you behind to be with his brother."

Mokuba nodded. "Yeah...I guess you're right. I never really thought about that before."

"No offense...but it's time." Kaiba stated.

CKaiba hugged Mokuba one more time, then turned and faced the pixilated image of himself. "Do what you have to. I'm ready."

The image merged with the true form of Kaiba...and in mere moments, both consciences transferred once again. Kaiba was pleased to see there was no resistance from the other, as he once again was in his body. The few moments were maybe fun...but it's something he'd never want to do for very long. Especially not for all eternity.

Now back in his own body, Kaiba moved down and offered his own hug to Mokuba. Mokuba said, "Thanks Seto...for letting me say hello to my own brother again. It was good to do."

"Not a problem." Kaiba said. He let him go and stood, once again facing the computer image of himself.

CKaiba said, "Before you leave...I was curious just how many times you ran into this. You mentioned one world...but you also mentioned that we completed the solid holographics here, as well."

"If you included this world...twice. The world that included the solid imagining, I was murdered in that world from a shooter that took my life...and it wasn't a cover-up, either. But, Mokuba was fine in that universe." Kaiba answered.

CKaiba nodded, "Well, that's good."

"No, it's not! You were murdered!" Mokuba exclaimed.

They both looked at Mokuba blankly; neither of them contemplating their own lives...simply how it would affect Mokuba's. But neither acknowledged Mokuba's comment, feeling as long as he was okay in that world, everything was fine.

CKaiba added, "I'm simply saying it sounds like there might be a pattern forming. Just keep a careful watch on your brother, if he starts to get sick. When you became part of the computer for those few minutes, you should have been able to tap into all the files...including Mokuba's medical records. So, I'm sure you'll know what to best look out for, if this happens to your world."

Kaiba looked away, hating having this version tell him what he was all ready beginning to suspect, himself. "He's...all ready been sick."

"What? Is he all right? You didn't leave him like that, did you?" CKaiba asked in great concern.

Kaiba answered, "He's fine...Aiko took care of it."

"Aiko again? So, she's a doctor with technical knowledge, now?" CKaiba asked, suspicious.

"Listen...I don't want to get into it. All you need to know is that he's fine, now. That's all that matters." Kaiba said.

"Oooh! Is she magical or something?" Mokuba suddenly blurted out, beginning to suspect. Why else would his brother act so uneasy about answering, after all?

"...or something." Kaiba quietly muttered to himself, still acting very uneasy about the subject.

CKaiba commented, "Mokuba...you know there's no such thing. Don't be ridiculous." He then turned to eye Kaiba, wondering what the secret was to this miracle cure. But after his comment to Mokuba, he too finally noticed this Kaiba was strangely quiet. He then eyed the strange cube in Kaiba's hand to see it looked more like jewelry. More like...more like something you'd see Yugi wearing. That's when CKaiba decided it was probably something he didn't really want to know about.

"I should get going." Kaiba said.

CKaiba nodded, saying nothing more.

"Bye, Seto! Maybe you can stop back, sometime! We'd be happy to have you!" Mokuba said.

"See ya, kiddo." Kaiba smiled down at him. Then with a change in the box's shape, Kaiba was gone again.


	20. C20 Undigging One’s Grave

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. Edited by yamisgirl

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_**C20 Un-digging One's Grave **_

Kaiba appeared in the next universe, and without even looking around...he all ready knew this world was different. For some reason, he appeared sitting on the floor. And stranger still...he had on what appeared to be some kind of collar and leash.

'What in the world...?' he began to think, as he looked over his surroundings. Immediately, before even checking out the room...he found what appeared to be his target. Sitting in a comfortable living room chair was Noah. He was looking over the paper with a bored expression on his face...the noise of the TV was in the background.

'Am I here? Did I make it?' he wondered. If Noah was angry for beating him, he'd certainly want revenge. And chaining him with a leash and collar and sticking him to the floor would definitely be considered a punishment for such a 'crime'. But there was something wrong with that equation. If he took over the Seto of that world, and that world's Seto was still back in his world...then how would Noah be able to capture and chain him?

But then...if this wasn't the world he was looking for, then what exactly was going on?

"Getting restless, pet?" Noah voice asked. Kaiba turned to see Noah suddenly watching him from the corner of his eye, now with a cocky smirk smeared on his face. "Don't make me have to punish you again." he muttered, turning back to his paper. "Filthy mongrel, I still can't understand how father would think you could ever challenge me. What an insult."

Kaiba's confused look instantly became a defiant glare. 'We'll see who challenges who.' Kaiba thought, as he stood and proceeded in starting to unbuckle the collar.

Noah immediately looked displeased, and yanked on Kaiba's collar in anger, as his other hand reached for what looked like a small whip. "Bad dog! Sit, as your master commands you!"

Kaiba grabbed at the leash, harshly yanking against Noah's hold. Just then, Kaiba realized something else was wrong. His strength didn't seem to be nearly as strong as it should. He should have caused that spoiled little punk to be launched right out of that chair. But instead, merely pulling away from Noah's grip was a difficulty in itself. Also...shouldn't he be taller? The whole room seemed larger around him.

'No! It can't be!' Kaiba thought, and suddenly looked over himself. Sure enough...he wasn't the correct age. Kaiba appeared to be more like 13 than 17. He had shrunk by four years!

He was so distracted by the drastic change in himself, that he didn't see it coming until it hit. Noah had lashed against the back of his head, causing him to drop to his knees. Noah smirked evilly at him, muttering calmly. "What a bad dog you've been. I thought I all ready broke you of those nasty habits, by now. I guess it's time to give you another lesson in humility."

Noah stood, grabbing the leash tight and yanked. "Let's go...it's punishment time."

How could this have happened to him in this world? Why would any version of him willingly endure this? Kaiba thought through the scenarios of his own past, trying to add Noah into the mix to figure out why he would let himself get hurt. The only answer he could come up with...was Mokuba.

Perhaps with Noah here, Mokuba was in even greater danger in the mansion. And the only way to protect him was to endure this kid's torture. But if that was true, then where was Mokuba? He wanted to know, but he was concerned about asking. During this time in his own past, Kaiba was trying to pretend Mokuba meant nothing to him, resulting in eventually convincing his own self. But if he asked where Mokuba was, he'd be proving that he cared. That would mean he'd have to find out, himself. This would mean subduing his capture.

Kaiba played along for the moment, and loyally followed until he found the best possibility to strike.

Noah took him to a room and opened a door that simply horrified him. There was a bed with shackles on it, and all around it were items for both torture and pleasure. The bed had a mix of bloodstains and seamen. Kaiba new one thing for sure...whatever Noah had planned, he was definitely 'not' going to chain him to that.

"Let's go, Seto. Up on the bed." he commanded as if he was commanding a dog. "And take off those clothes." Noah then laughed. "What a convenient time to fight me, too...and I was starting to get bored."

"Well, then...allow me to help entertain you." Kaiba hissed coldly. He instantly dropped to the floor, doing a sweeping maneuver at Noah's ankles.

Noah immediately dropped to the floor, seeming totally shocked by Kaiba's actions. Before Noah could respond to his sudden fall, Kaiba used the chain leash and wrapped it around Noah's throat, pulling it tight and threatening to strangle him to death.

Noah struggled to keep breathing, the look of shock and pure fear in his eyes. "Sit still a minute." Kaiba commanded, still trying to get used to the higher voice coming from his mouth. "Otherwise, I'll make sure you never move again." he added.

Kaiba tried to unlatch the collar once again, but Noah didn't listen and started to lash around. "How dare you!" Noah choked out. "Wait till father hears this...then we'll both teach you a lesson! No one does this to me, especially some mongrel like you!"

"Hmph...I guess I was just a little more challenging than you anticipated." Kaiba smirked, and then tightened the chain, causing Noah to suddenly stop. "Do you want to die?" Kaiba hissed. "Do you think I won't do it? You think by killing you, my life would become worst than it is, now? Last chance before your 'father' loses a son and decides to count on me as his new heir."

Noah froze perfectly still, suddenly...the fear in him growing even more. Never did Noah think that his so-called 'dog' would even figure out such a possibility. It gave Kaiba the time to finish removing the collar.

"My father would never accept you as an heir...never in a million years." Noah spat, but didn't struggle in fear that his own pet might consider actually killing him.

Kaiba looked over the interesting torture devices, and grabbed an item off the counter. "Fortunately for you, Noah...I don't have time to deal with nobodies. There's someone far more important for me to focus on, right now."

Before Noah could say another word, Kaiba hit him in the back of the head hard with the blunt item, causing Noah to become unconscious.

Removing the leash around Noah's neck, Kaiba dragged Noah up onto the bed and shackled him in. That alone was a difficult task for someone now the size of a child. Taking in a few breaths to recover, he heard Noah moaning, all ready beginning to wake up.

"Oh...my head. What...?" Noah began to say, and realized where he was. "How 'dare' you put me here? Father will never let you get away with this! Father! Father! Security!" Noah began to cry out.

"Oh, shut up!" Kaiba snapped, grabbing a strange rubber ball with a string on it, and shoving it in Noah's mouth, then tying it around his head so he couldn't spit it out. Kaiba gave a cocky smirk down at Noah, saying, "You know...I think this placement suits you perfectly."

Noah thrashed around, trying to say something, but all that was heard was the quiet muffles because of the ball in his mouth. Kaiba took this moment to laugh arrogantly down at him, but new he had little time to stick around. So, he left Noah and closed the door, sneaking down the hall.

...Kaiba went straight to the security room.

Once he was sure there was no one inside, he snuck in and locked the door. Kaiba then tapped into the security computer, controlling the cameras of the mansion in order to find Mokuba. Yet, he was nowhere to be found.

'Where is he?' he thought, worried. Maybe they killed him. If Mokuba was killed by them, then he was certain at his age, he wouldn't have the will left to care or resist any torture done to him...his life would be over.

In frustration, he used the computer to tap into police files to find Mokuba's information. All ready, the security cameras were showing that the guards had found Noah, and were starting to untie him. It wouldn't be long before they looked for him here. His time was limited.

Mokuba was found...he was not dead. And...he also wasn't adopted. 'What? He's still there!' Kaiba realized. Yet, seeing how Noah was alive and torturing his younger self the way they were...he weighed if Mokuba not being here was good or bad.

But Mokuba was still at the orphanage. What about all those bullies picking on him, all the time? Kaiba was no longer there to protect him, anymore.

The idea brought such anger to Kaiba, he pounded against the computer keyboard. "How could he leave him there! I promised him I would not leave him behind!" he snapped out loud.

Just then, the door handle wiggled, and a guard said. "It's locked! He must be in here!"

Kaiba looked up from the monitor, glaring at the door. There were no other ways to get out of this room, except for that door. There were heating ducts, but they were hardly big enough to fit someone like him, even if he was smaller. That meant his only way out was through the guards, or from his device.

Kaiba pulled out the box, considering if he should leave. This was clearly not the world he was meant to be in, and he still had to find the other Mokuba, after all. But as Kaiba looked up at the door hearing them trying to force it open, he decided against the idea of leaving. He refused to run away from a fight, and in this universe he definitely had something to fight for. There was another Mokuba that needed saving, here. How could he abandon him, just to help another Mokuba? He had to at least make sure this Mokuba was okay, first.

The guards slammed against the door, which was difficult to break open since it was made for security purposes.

Noah irritably snapped, "Why don't you just shoot the door-knob and destroy the lock?"

"Because the security doors don't work that way here." a guard answered.

Another muttered, "This isn't the movies, kid."

"Who are you calling kid? I'm your superior! You better get that opened...your jobs are on the line, here!" Noah snapped, cracking his whip at the ground.

Both guards finally slammed the door opened, and looked in shock to see all the security computers fizzling and popping. One of the machines at that moment literally exploded.

"Shit!" one of them cried, as they moved over to try and save anything left salvageable, before it too became destroyed. From right beside the door, Kaiba suddenly rushed out, pushing them into the chaotic fray then turned to run...getting whipped in the face as he tried to leave.

"Going somewhere?" Noah asked, coldly.

Kaiba showed no fear, though. If anything, he became irritated by the mark Noah left, which quickly changed to anger. Noah's hard look of superiority started to crumble, as he realized his pet wasn't going to back down.

Kaiba charged at him, grabbing the whip and punching him straight in the face. Noah screamed in pain, clutching at his face and began to cry, like the child he was.

But before he could go any further, there were two other securities that came from both ways, leaping on him to pin him down.

They finally succeeded in subduing Kaiba, but only after kneeing one guard in the balls and the other straight in the face. "We got him, sir." one of them managed to choke out, as the other two guards finally pealed themselves from the security room with burn marks all over them.

Noah wiped the tears from his eyes, saying in between sobs, "I'll make you pay for this! No one does this to me, and gets away with this. When I'm through with you, I'll have you begging for the way I treated you before!"

This looked bad. Kaiba wasn't anticipating getting caught, or having to endure any of Noah's torture. And the guards were careful enough to even handcuff him to make sure he didn't do any more damage. Now, what was he going to do? He couldn't even use the box to escape, if he wanted to.

"What is going on here!" a familiar voice suddenly roared. Great...now it was getting even worst.

"Father!" Noah cried out happily, and ran to his father crying on his leg. "Oh, father...Seto was so terrible! He attacked me like a rabid animal, and chained me to his bed! And then he destroyed the security room, and attacked your guards!"

Gozaburo looked over the security room, then at the guards, and finally down at Kaiba, who was glaring defiantly up at him without a care in the world. Gozaburo asked, "Are you responsible for this, boy?"

"Hope I didn't damage your little toy computer's too much, Gozaburo." Kaiba smirked. "Your little brat kid was boring me, so I had to occupy my time some other way."

"So, you're bored...are you?" Gozaburo asked. He immediately turned to his son, stating, "I thought you've been challenging him, Noah. Instead, he seems to be wiping the floor with you...including your face! And stop sniveling on my leg! Be a man, for a change!"

Noah looked surprised, as his father sounded like he was taking Kaiba's side. "But...I have so been challenging! He's never done this before! He has to be punished, father! No one is allowed to step on a Kaiba, like that!"

"No one should be able to. And yet...look what he's done to you!" Gozaburo snapped. He then turned back to Seto, saying, "Not bad, for a street rat. It's about time you started to show some balls, again. You earned some rest."

There was a momentary twinge of pride that rushed through Kaiba, hearing those words from Gozaburo. But those feelings were quickly squashed. Old habits die-hard. Even now, he was still used to the twisted game between him and Gozaburo.

Gozaburo then looked at the guards, saying, "Take him to one of the guest rooms and let him rest there, away from Noah. I'm going to have a talk with my son."

"Yes, sir." the guard said.

"But, father!" Noah pouted, and followed Gozaburo like a loyal pup.

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'Who would have thought that Gozaburo would play the hero?' Kaiba thought, realizing Gozaburo had probably saved his ass from his son's fate. Maybe he could use that as an advantage to play the father against his son.

Yet, Kaiba felt no surprise that Gozaburo would reward him for defeating his guards and his own son, instead of punish him. And the reward of rest was all too familiar. 'I guess some things don't change, no matter what world you're in.' he thought.

Kaiba's eyes suddenly glanced at the shadow, which moved passed the light under his door. That was no surprise, either. Gozaburo assigned a guard to watch his room and ensure there were no further attempts to roam the halls. He was sure it probably frustrated his stepfather to no end, knowing that Kaiba was wandering the mansion and yet...didn't know his purpose.

Kaiba grinned in satisfaction. The plan of detonating the security cameras had multiple advantages for him. First, it posed as a distraction to get through the guards. That almost succeeded without a clincher...but still turned out much better than it could have. Kaiba counted it as a win.

The second reason was that it hid the trail of what Kaiba was looking for...keeping everyone in the dark on his need to find his brother. That went perfectly. The damage was too great, and all the machines would need to be replaced...he made sure of it. Gozaburo would never figure out if he was looking for anything except to keep track of the people in the house.

The last thing was because the security was down for at least a day; he wouldn't have to worry about the cameras keeping track of him when he got out again. And he indeed planned on escaping. He had to go see his brother, and at least let him know he was not forgotten.

Sleep was tempting to take, since Kaiba's child body was so tired...obviously getting little sleep from Noah's constant abuse. But he couldn't let himself sleep; otherwise he'd lose his chance.

Kaiba moved to the window, looking down. There were the usual guards watching the perimeter. But once darkness had come, which was soon...they would have little chance to see him slip out. Plus, they were more concentrated on anyone trying to break in, not out.

So, Kaiba allowed himself to rest until it got dark. He then tied his sheets together and slipped out the window. The sheets were still not long enough, making himself have to drop hard into the bushes and roll out of them. He was scratched up pretty bad from it, but it saved him from breaking anything.

From the ground, he knew an easy path to get through the guards...he knew the emergency routes like the back of his hand.

Once Kaiba was out, he ran as fast as he could until he finally made it to the orphanage, he knew all too well. Out of breath and gasping for air, he took a minute to recover before now trying to break-in.

The back way was the easiest way in; because they left the door open all the time to dump their garbage and ship out their dirty laundry. He also remembered this from his own past. Once he was in, he dodged passed janitors and social workers to the kid's rooms. He slipped inside and quickly found his bed.

"Mokuba." he whispered, relieved that he didn't look nearly as bad as he feared he might.

Mokuba's eyes began to open, and then rubbed them as he thought he was having a dream. "S-Seto...? Is that really you?"

"Keep it down." Kaiba smiled. "Someone's gonna find out, otherwise."

"But...how did you get in here?" Mokuba whispered.

Kaiba answered, "I escaped Gozaburo's house to see you."

Mokuba smiled sadly. "Well, at least one of us got a good...what happened to you?"

Even in the dark, he could see the various cuts and bruises, and a nasty red mark across his face. "What?" Kaiba asked. "Oh, I landed in one of the bushes to break my fall. It's nothing."

"A bush did 'that'?" Mokuba asked, outlining the long red mark. Kaiba immediately realized that mark wasn't from a bush. Noah was more careless than Gozaburo, and didn't worry as much about the abuse marks that he left on him...which included when he whipped him, either.

"That's nothing." Kaiba muttered, looking away.

Mokuba quickly began to realize, and said, "Your adoptive parents aren't very nice people...are they?"

Kaiba looked down. He wanted to lie to Mokuba so he wouldn't worry, but telling him he had a wonderful life wouldn't help matters, either. It was better to let him know the truth, then to lead Mokuba to believe he abandoned him to have his happy home without him. "No...they're not." he admitted.

"Why don't you run away?" Mokuba suggested. "Then they'll probably end up putting you back in foster care. But at least you won't be hurt from them."

"Relax." Kaiba smirked, looking over at Mokuba. "It's nothing I can't handle. I have a plan. When I get old enough, I'm going to make their company mine. Then I'll have the power to do anything I want. And the first thing I'll do is find you. No matter where you are, I'll come and get you. But I'm afraid you're going to have to hold out, until then. Can you do that, Mokuba?"

"Sure, big brother...no matter how long it takes, I'll wait for you." Mokuba smiled.

"Thanks, kiddo." Kaiba smiled back. "No matter how long it takes, I promise I'll find you and bring us back together. You're 'my' responsibility."

Mokuba held him tight, as they hugged each other...happy to be with his brother again, as short a time as it was. He was also happy to know that Seto didn't abandon him. He never stopped trying to be with him.

Kaiba now understood what this version of him had to do. He couldn't allow Mokuba to be in Gozaburo's house, yet. With his own reality where their stepfather was the only true enemy, Kaiba could handle him. He could play the lightning rod to all the abuse that came. But with Noah in the house, things got more complicated. Even if he could convince Noah that Mokuba meant nothing, all that spoiled brat had to do is get bored, and he'd still end up probably hurting Mokuba. He couldn't risk that.

With Mokuba at the orphanage, there might be bullies and mean social workers, but they didn't offer near the abuse that Noah did. It's the best Kaiba could do. The only part Kaiba wasn't sure of was if the Seto of this world was letting himself be abused to buy his time and strike when the time was right...or if he had given up. He hoped more than anything that wasn't the case. Mokuba depended on Kaiba being strong and making it through this. Maybe it would work out, eventually. But he still had another Mokuba to save.

"I have to go." Kaiba said, sadly. He didn't want to...but he had to. If Gozaburo caught wind that he was doing all this for Mokuba, which could be used against him. Maybe Gozaburo would even change his mind and adopt Mokuba too, in order to use him as a tool against Kaiba.

"I'll miss you, big brother." Mokuba said, and handed him a picture he had under his pillow. "It's not much, but I drew it today thinking of you."

The picture was all too familiar...a homemade BEWD picture, just like the one Mokuba made from his world. "Thank you." Kaiba smiled. "I'll keep with me, always."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba managed to escape the orphanage the same way he got in, and ran all the way back to the mansion. Before he could even get to the secret path, a black car pulled over and some Kaiba security got out. "Where've you been, punk? Trying to escape? I'm afraid Gozaburo wants to have a word with you."

Kaiba relaxed and let them take him back to his stepfather. He knew a punishment would come from this one, and would probably lose a lot more sleep, as well. But he didn't care, anymore. In fact, he was now more confident than ever that the Kaiba of this world would do what he had to. Thanks to Mokuba, this Kaiba now had a constant reminder of his brother...the little homemade BEWD. If this Kaiba had given up before, he was sure this would boost his hopes, once again. That little picture would be the key to Gozaburo's and Noah's eventual downfall.

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"You're like some feral animal." Gozaburo snapped at him. "Do you think you'd get away with escaping, without us finding you? Where do you think you could go?"

"You misunderstand." Kaiba standing…standing tall and defiant. "I wasn't running away from you. I was simply testing your security. And from what I can tell...it's pretty flawed."

Kaiba then laughed. "In one night, I toppled your security viewers, and was able to go wherever I wanted without you or your pathetic guards being able to stop me. And from you, step father...I was expecting a better challenge."

"This was some kind of test for you?" Gozaburo snapped. "What is this about? Noah told me you had a focus on someone else, besides him? And who exactly were you aiming for?"

Kaiba might have slipped up by saying that to Noah, but he made up for it rather quickly. "Who do you think? Why should I waste my time with a little fish, when my focus should be on the main catch? I was trying to get your attention."

Gozaburo's interest was peaked. "And you wanted my attention, why?"

"Face it; Gozaburo...your future heir to Kaiba Corp is pathetic. Is Noah what you really want to be running your company? By the time he's done, he'll be running it to the ground." Kaiba said.

"And you think a street rat like you could do better? Why? Because you know how to destroy things?" Gozaburo asked, snidely.

Kaiba smirked. "Hmph...well, this company 'is' about destruction, isn't it? Somehow, I don't think sitting around being pampered all day is going to prepare anyone for that." Kaiba then grinned coldly, saying, "Why don't you make it a game? How better to challenge your son, then letting him know if he doesn't shape up, he could lose everything. And if I win this game...I become the next heir."

"Hmmm..." Gozaburo muttered. He then laughed, which echoed throughout the room. "I gotta admit, punk...you certainly got balls. I don't know where you found them lately, but if that's what you want to try to do...be my guest. I accept your challenge. But I'll warn you now, Seto...when you lose, even after you hit 18, you'll have to be Noah's personal slave for the rest of your life. Got it?"

'I won't lose.' Kaiba thought, confidently. "Agreed." he said, adding on another obligation to the Kaiba of this world, without him even knowing it, yet.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba was sent into another guest room, which had a locked security window and now 2 security guards outside the door. He had impressed Gozaburo to get that extra sleep, after all. 'Good...you're gonna need it.' he thought to himself, pulling out the little box.

The Kaiba of this world wouldn't realize the bet and his meeting with Mokuba until later on. But he would find out soon enough. To any normal kid, the deal he made was probably pure hell. But for himself...he was certain these two things would be a blessing that would ensure he would not give up and keep fighting. He gave Seto hope to stop this madness happening to him, and offered him a chance to get his brother back. That would be enough.

'Good luck.' he thought to himself, even though he didn't believe in luck. He reshaped the box once again, going to the next universe.


	21. C21 Death T

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199.

To anyone who doesn't understand Death T you need to read the magna to understand. Any questions contact either me or Clarity.

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_**C21 Death T**_

Kaiba quickly looked around the room he was in, from this newest universe. As anxious as he was to make it to his destination, he sadly realized this must not be it either, since he was in the mansion once again.

In fact, he was right in front of his office computer, which was showing the latest stock exchange for Kaiba Corporation, on the percentage of who owned what.

But before he got a good look at it, the door to his office flew open and Mokuba came in. "Setooo! I need to talk to you!"

At least he knew Mokuba thought he was alive and was his normal young self. In fact, he seemed even younger than he remembered him to presently be. But then, after seeing him at all those other various ages, he wasn't sure if it was the correct age as his Mokuba or not.

Only now did Kaiba then realize what Mokuba was wearing, which looked like some kind of king's robe. Was it Halloween, already?

"What in the world are you wearing?" Kaiba asked.

"Don't you remember? You got this for me. It was a matching set for the both of us." Mokuba said, trying not to sound hurt.

'A matching set?' he thought. There was a tingling in the back of his mind that was trying to remember, but he couldn't for some reason, as if the memory was blocked out.

"When's the meeting, by the way?" Mokuba then asked.

Kaiba asked, "What meeting?"

Mokuba gave a sarcastic smile, muttering, "You know what meeting...'the' meeting. When you and Gozaburo finally face-off. And you're going to win...aren't you, big brother?"

Kaiba's eyes widened, as he realized what Mokuba was talking about. He glanced down at the monitor immediately, afterwards. The combination of stock between Kaiba, Mokuba and the Big 5...which were also listed on the screen, outweighed Gozaburo Kaiba by 2. It was the final meeting; it was going to take place any time, now.

Mokuba was now looking down at his hands nervously, as he then asked, "Seto, do you remember the bet we had?"

"No, what bet?" Kaiba asked blankly, looking horrified from what he was seeing, realization hitting him what he was about to do.

"You're supposed to be in T5, while I'm in T4. But you bet on T5, didn't you? How could you do that? How could you bet against your own brother!" Mokuba shouted at him.

It was like a nightmare returned to life to haunt him, as Kaiba heard the words from Mokuba's mouth. It felt like the same recurring nightmare he had over and over again, as he whispered, "Death T...this can't be happening."

"Seto! Why did you bet against me?" Mokuba asked, as Kaiba closed his twitching eyes, having trouble staying in control, never wanting to remember any part of these moments again...ever.

Again, Mokuba snapped, after Kaiba still didn't answer. "Why did you bet against me!"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING!" Kaiba suddenly boomed at him.

"Wh-what?" Mokuba asked, backing up.

"You heard what I said. You're not going to be a part of this...I refuse to let you." Kaiba snarled. If this happened again, he would be damned before he let his brother step foot into that monstrosity of a game he created. He almost killed his brother once; he was not going to allow it to happen again. Never...never again.

"But Seto, you promised! You said I could help! I want to help you go after Yugi. I can do it, Seto...I really can!" Mokuba whined, thinking that his brother was saying these things because he had no faith in him. His brother thought he was just a loser...a waste of his time.

"What happened last night, Mokuba? Tell me what happened between you and Yugi?" Kaiba asked. Mokuba choked on his words...he hoped that his brother wouldn't find out about the game. Mokuba poisoned certain foods, to try and kill Yugi. Mokuba lost, and he had to eat the food. Fortunately, his servants had the cure close at hand, preventing Mokuba from dying.

"Yugi won, didn't he?" When Mokuba didn't answer, he snapped, "DIDN'T HE?"

"I...I'm sorry, Seto. I was only trying...trying to help. He was mean to you and I wasn't going to let him treat my brother that way..." Mokuba mumbled out, nervously.

"You were poisoned, Mokuba! You could have died! Don't you understand that?" Kaiba yelled at him. But Kaiba wasn't angry at Mokuba...he was angry at himself, for ever letting these things happen to him.

Mokuba began to go into tears now, as he hiccupped, "Please Seto, please let me try again! This time, I promise I can do it! I can beat Yugi!"

This was no longer the Mokuba that could handle doing things on his own, no matter how much he tried to prove his brother, otherwise. This was basically the same as 'his' Mokuba. He would fail, and Kaiba would punish him for it. Mokuba would almost die, but be saved by his own adversary before that happened. No...not again.

Kaiba now pulled himself from his computer and dropped down to Mokuba's eye level, holding onto his shoulder, saying, "Mokuba... listen to me. You don't have to prove anything to me, do you understand? It's 'my' job... my job to take care of things, my job to protect you. I know I haven't been the same as I used to be and I'm sorry. But soon... things are going to change for the better. We're going to be free, I promise you. Remember the games I told you... the games we have to play, when we battle against our stepfather?"

"Y-yes..." Mokuba said, rather surprised by Kaiba's sudden soft tones. He hadn't seen his brother talk to him like that in a long time.

"Well right now, me talking to you here... this isn't a game." Kaiba said and hugged his brother. "You mean everything to me, Mokuba. Don't let what happened to us make you ever forget that. I know I haven't shown it yet, but it's coming. I..." Kaiba couldn't say it. He was never one to express feelings. And how could he say he loved someone, when he wasn't even sure what love felt like, anymore?

But this whole thing about re-living Death-T was seriously messing him up. He felt, he had to say something. He owed Mokuba that. "I love you...and I always will." There...he said it. He just hoped he wasn't lying to Mokuba, or saying something that he'd never be able to prove to the kid.

"I... I love you too, Seto!" Mokuba gushed and hugged his brother tight, tears falling from his eyes, tears of joy. He never thought such words would ever fall from his brother's lips again. 'My brother still cares...'

"Now listen...you will not be a part of this game. I know you are trying to prove to me you're valuable, but you don't have too. I already know that...you're more valuable to me than you can ever imagine. I'm not forbidding you because I don't believe in you; I'm forbidding you because I refuse to put you into that kind of position. Okay, kiddo?" Kaiba asked.

Mokuba smiled, saying, "Okay, big brother!"

Kaiba sensed the door-handle turn and immediately leaped away from Mokuba, remembering how he still had to act the part. His stepfather wasn't down, yet. Kaiba still had that meeting to go to and then he no longer had to worry about it. The door opened and the evil butler came in, saying, "Master Seto, your stepfather has arrived. You are expected at the meeting."

Kaiba looked down at Mokuba and gave him a particular look and the slightest nod, signaling something to his brother. Kaiba hated what he was about to do, but only one last time and then he could witness Gozaburo's death. "Go cry in your room, brat. I have important things to deal with now, without your senseless groveling."

"Yes, Seto..." Mokuba said looking sad and turned away...wiping the tears from his eyes. He began to mope away, only taking a second to glance up at the butler, while he left the room. This was nothing new...it was a game that was played all the time, after all.

Kaiba had to turn away afterwards, to hide the pain in his face. He never thought he would have to do something like that ever again, and only brought back the nightmares in his mind. 'Mokuba, forgive me.'

But if Gozaburo or the Big 5 sensed his weakness now, it was too risky for him to chance any of them might possibly pull out and take Gozaburo's side.

"Tell them I'll be right there." Kaiba ordered, as the butler nodded and left.

Seto Kaiba looked down at himself...he was wearing the white uniform that his father made him wear since he had been adopted by him. He hated this uniform. After his battle with Yugi, he remembered burning it the first chance he had. It was still never enough to take away the hate and guilt he felt for himself after almost murdering his only brother.

Yet, the only good thing that came out of this was about to take place. He was about to crush his stepfather and win the game.

'But this was another dimension...what if I'm destined to lose here?' he wondered.

No...he'd never second-guess himself. The numbers were accurate and showed the same thing. And for a chance to watch Gozaburo throw himself out of the top window of Kaiba Corp once again, it was well worth the risk.

Kaiba grabbed his briefcase, making sure everything was ready. He then turned and headed to the meeting.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Everything went as Kaiba had expected, to his delight. All the fools of the Big 5 took his side, yet Gozaburo still thought he had an Ace in the hole.

He laughed evilly, stating, "You think you've won, Seto? Did you think I wouldn't consider the possibility that my own men would try and stab me in the back? I predicted everything, and came prepared. You might have the power of the Big 5, but I still have something you 'didn't' expect!"

"And what would that be?" Kaiba asked casually, even though he all ready knew Gozaburo's supposed 'ace'...his brother.

"I've taught you well in showing that brotherly love is no place for business. Unfortunately, those same teachings also taught your brother to fear you! I've had a long talk with Mokuba over the last few days. And I'm afraid he's on 'my' side!" Gozaburo spat.

Kaiba just watched calmly as a guard opened the door, and Mokuba came into the room.

"That's my boy." Gozaburo grinned, as Mokuba was lead to him. He laughed coldly as he stated to Kaiba, "But maybe I didn't teach you enough, boy. You were so blind to simply assume Mokuba would follow you, you obviously never saw this deceit. And with Mokuba's share, that still makes me in charge!"

The Big 5 looked like they were sweating bullets. But Kaiba remained perfectly calm...it was all part of the game. Mokuba thought he never proved himself to his brother. But he did prove himself more than anything, when he deceived Gozaburo and agreed to offer his shares to him. And it was Gozaburo that was proved the fool, to trust Mokuba's word and not have it sealed in writing.

Kaiba looked to Mokuba and asked, "Mokuba. Tell us where your shares are going."

Mokuba finally looked up from the floor and gave Kaiba an evil grin. "You, of course, big brother!"

"What!" Gozaburo exclaimed, totally shocked as he watched Mokuba blindly run to Kaiba's side. He was so sure that Mokuba had turned on Kaiba...Gozaburo just couldn't believe that some stupid kid duped him like that.

Gozaburo admitted his failure and Kaiba's victory. And he announced to Kaiba that he would show him one last lesson before he left: a lesson to teach him that death means failure.

Gozaburo leapt from the window, watched by the emotionless figures of the Big 5. But this time, Kaiba could not simply stand still like they were. He quickly stood and leapt to the window, to anxiously watch the man fall to his death, his eyes dancing with joy and glee.

Kaiba had never been able to get sick of the image of Gozaburo Kaiba falling to his death, and splattering his brains all over the sidewalk. Kaiba laughed evilly, cackling like a madman. It caused Mokuba to back away in fear of him, as he watched in horror his own brother taking pleasure in watching any man die like that. But Kaiba did not go as far as stick his head out the window to get a better view. He didn't for two reasons...one he didn't want it to look like he had anything to do with it to the public eye, and two he didn't trust the Big 5 not to try and push him out the window next.

Kaiba now turned calmly, saying, "I believe our business here is taken care of. Johnson...I trust you to take care of the reporters on this situation."

"Of course, Master Kaiba." Johnson nodded.

"I have work to do. Mokuba...come." He said coldly and left the room, his brother following loyally behind.

Kaiba already knew he had all his paperwork in order and ready to send out, that would make the changes to stop all operations pertaining to weapons and development. The Big 5 had no idea what was about to transpire. It would set everything into motion that would cause Pegasus to go after him and the Big 5 to turn against him.

And how tempted Kaiba became at this moment to simply challenge Yugi himself, with the knowledge he had on Yugi's deck. A few minor changes to his own deck and he was positive he could easily take down Yugi and win instead of lose. But, he then turned to see Mokuba and knew he couldn't do that. The Seto Kaiba of 'this' world had to lose. If he didn't, he would not receive the penalty game from Yugi and would remain the tortured soul that he became. He would not let any more harm come to his brother... the Kaiba of this world had to suffer the same fate.

And he hated that Kaiba...that side of him. Perhaps that's also a reason why he considered jumping in, taking the chance of losing to Yugi, getting hit with a penalty game once again...paying for the crime that he committed. He deserved it... he deserved worst. Yugi should have killed him for what he did. Yet, the fool spared him.

Kaiba waited until Yugi got through with Death T - 3, before he announced that Mokuba had become ill and could not participate in Death T - 4. Therefore, Yugi was automatically directed to Death T - 5, which caused the crowd to immediately start moving. Kaiba found Mokuba and told him not to let himself be seen until he's done with his battle against Yugi. He also told him not to hate Yugi for what he's done, no matter what...and to respect his strength in playing. He made Mokuba promise if something happened to him, to let Yugi and his friends go. These things upset Mokuba, but Kaiba muttered that there is no game without sacrifice. He then went back to his office and then quickly activated the box so that the Kaiba of this world had to deal with everything.


	22. C22 Virtual World – Aftermath I

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C22 Virtual World – Aftermath I**_

In the blink of an eye, Kaiba was in an office room. But, for the first time, he didn't recognize the office. It wasn't his house, or Kaiba Corp. So, where was he?

Trying to get a bearings on his surroundings, he moved to the window and looked outside. His eyes then widened, quickly realizing what he was looking at outside. "That's Kaiba Land!" But, if that was the case...why didn't he recognize his office?

That's when he noticed the various setups in Kaiba Land matched the blueprints he was making for another Kaiba Land. This wasn't the amusement park he built in Domino City...he must have made this one somewhere else. But, where?

As these random thoughts went swirling through his head, sudden movement from behind him caught his attention. He turned, and to his surprise...Noah was right behind him.

"Noah?" He asked, too surprised to say anything else. And he realized Noah wasn't really there. Like some worlds where he found himself...Noah seemed to be a floating holographic image.

Noah smiled, saying, "I'm sorry to disturb you, Seto. I was just curious what you were thinking about. Oh, by the way...Mokuba's here."

That instant, Mokuba came bounding in, saying happily, "Big brother, I'm back! Hi, Noah."

"So, how was school?" Noah turned and asked.

"Boring, as usual. Will you help me with my English assignment? I have to do research on the Internet, and since Seto gave you complete access to the Internet last month, it'd be easier to just have you help me."

"I don't know, Mokuba...you'd better ask your brother. You know how he feels about me helping you with your homework." Noah answered, glancing at Kaiba behind him.

Kaiba was still in shock from Noah being there. But now the two were talking two each other, like long lost friends. The very person who was hurting Mokuba in another universe, was now having a friendly conversation with him? Kaiba was trying to keep his anger in check and remind himself it was a different reality, but seeing Noah was causing him to fail miserably.

"Well, Seto...can he help me?"

"Are you insane?" Kaiba snapped back at him. "What is Noah even doing here!"

"Are you okay, big brother?"

Noah, noticing Kaiba's obviously strange reaction, quickly did a security scan on him, and found something different. Noah glared up at Kaiba, and quickly stepping in front of Mokuba, snapping, "Who are you?"

"What are talking about, Noah...its Seto!" Mokuba said.

"No...something's different, Mokuba. Though all his other life signs seem to be the same, his brain wave scan isn't correct." Noah warned Mokuba. He then turned to Kaiba, demanding, "Now I'll ask you again, who are you?"

But Kaiba refused to answer Noah's demands. Alternate world or not, there was no way he would trust Noah. Kaiba simply crossed his arms and glared menacingly down at him.

"Are you my big brother?" Mokuba then asked. No matter Noah said, Mokuba knew the actions of his brother when he saw it.

Kaiba glanced over at Mokuba, his eyes softening for a moment. But they returned to a cold glare the instant he looked back at Noah, snapping, "There is no way I'm going to explain anything in front of HIM!" Obviously meaning Noah.

Mokuba seemed to understand. Despite what Noah said, he knew he could trust this Seto standing there before them. He was really no different from his own brother, after all. Mokuba approached, saying to him, "I understand, Seto. But, it's okay...Noah's like part of the family, now. At least my big brother trusts him. Well, half of the time he does, anyway."

"Less than that, depending on his mood that day." Noah muttered, sourly.

"Please tell me, Seto. Are you my big brother?"

So with a sigh, Kaiba nodded, "Yes and no. I 'am' Seto Kaiba, but I'm not exactly your brother...at least not the one you know. I'm traveling between dimensions, looking for a world I once ended up in. Don't ask me how, because I'm tired of explaining myself. But in that world, you are in danger...from him!"

Kaiba spat out the last word like it tasted bad, as he pointed an accusing finger at Noah, glaring down at him, once again.

"And just how exactly am I a danger to him? He gets trapped in the virtual world again?" Noah asked.

'Again?' Kaiba questioned himself. 'I wonder what he meant by that.' Shaking off the question, he replied, "No. But, in my world you died. And in this other world...you didn't."

"Really?" Noah asked, with a sudden excitement. "You mean in other realities I didn't die? Well, how many other realities did you end up in, besides this one? Did you meet me in those other realities, as well? Was I still alive in them?" Noah asked, very anxious about the answer.

"In one of them...yes." Kaiba admitted, but saying little else to him.

"Did you hear that, Mokuba? I'm still alive in other worlds!" Noah said, excitedly.

Mokuba beamed, thinking about the exciting adventure it must be to see other versions of their world. "That sounds so cool, big brother! I wish I could do that!"

"No, you don't." Kaiba said sternly. "Believe me, this is not fun. A lot of these worlds have some very bad stories behind them...others are just too weird to mention." Kaiba said, inwardly shuddering from some of the things he'd seen, so far.

"It still sounds like fun to travel and see what you did differently in each world." Mokuba said.

"I told you my story, so let's hear yours." Kaiba demanded of Noah, ignoring Mokuba's last comment. He really didn't want to talk about what he had seen any more than necessary.

"How is it Noah is here?" He asked Mokuba, looking back at his brother after deciding it would be better hearing it from his brother, instead.

"Well..." Mokuba started. "It all started about 6 months ago."

(Flashback)

The plane had taken off from the Battle Tower, barely escaping the explosion of yet another place that was once ruled by Gozaburo Kaiba. Seto Kaiba looked down at his brother Mokuba for a moment, as he piloted the plane out of this area, heading to the United States, from Japan. Many things had happened to reach this moment. He had planned on permanently burying his past, but in doing so he had to practically re-live it again, first.

Somehow, his stepfather had returned from the dead to haunt him in this mysterious virtual world, where he learned he had a stepbrother known as Noah Kaiba. What Kaiba first saw as a spoiled brat, was infact another victim of his stepfather's cruelty. It seemed Noah was also used by his own father, and learned in the end that Gozaburo couldn't care less about his own son's existence.

In the end, Noah changed his ways...sacrificing himself so that everyone else could escape. Then Battle City began, and Kaiba not only had to deal with losing to Yugi yet again, but also having to hand over a card to Yugi so he could defeat Marik. He didn't really do it from the goodness of his heart, he was guilted into it by Ishizu. But more than that, Mokuba had asked him to let go of the hate he had continued to have bottled up within him for his Rival Yugi, as well as his hate towards his stepfather. As difficult as it was for Kaiba to grant his little brother's request, he still did all in his power to let it go. Handing Yugi that card was a way of showing Mokuba that he would keep his promise.

But now, heading to the US, he still felt the pain of loss after coming in a measly third place, when he was hoping for first. He only hoped that Yugi would be wise enough to properly hang onto those Egyptian God Cards, and not let someone show up and steal them from him. Yugi's house was hardly qualified as a secure location for such rare and powerful items, after all.

But he had to let go of the past, and look ahead to his plans on creating the New Kaiba Land. As a person who never had a chance to have a real childhood and grew up far too quickly, this was perhaps a way for him to reclaim that childhood, by bringing happiness to children everywhere he made a Kaiba Land. Thanks to Yugi, he was no longer top Duelist, but he was still damn good at just about any game out there, whether it was duel monsters, board games, mind games, or any video game ever made. Kaiba had a knack for knowing what kids liked, and made it come true for them. And in this country...he planned to do the same.

As he continued his flight, he noticed something strange suddenly happen to his console...one of the communication stations suddenly came to life. So, Kaiba automatically began to do a diagnostic check on the system. That's when the screen began to form text words, saying, "Hello, Seto".

"What in...?" he asked aloud, looking at the words.

Mokuba was in the back seat of the jet, at the time. When Seto spoke, he looked ahead to his brother, asking, "What's wrong, Seto?"

"I...I'm not sure..." he said, equally confused. Computers weren't supposed to have a mind of their own, after all.

The text changed, saying, "Tell Mokuba I said Hello to him, too."

"Can...you understand me?" he asked aloud at it, not sure if there was something listen in to him, or not. "Who are you?"

The text came up again, saying, "In my position, I can't see or hear you...I can only hope you're getting this." It then wiped clean, adding more text, saying, "If you are receiving this, then you probably wonder who I am. It's me...Noah. I escaped the blast."

Kaiba's eyes turned wide, saying, "Noah?" He wasn't entirely sure if this was a good thing, especially after what Noah had done. He had no idea what Noah might be expecting, or hoping for. Perhaps he had planned on taking over the ship to destroy them, or torture them once again.

"Seto...did you say Noah? What are you talking about?" Mokuba asked.

"I...I don't think he died, Mokuba. From what I'm seeing on the main console, it looks like Noah may have invaded the jet's computers."

"You mean...Noah's in here with us?" Mokuba said excitedly. "He's alive!"

The text then wiped clean again, saying, "Don't worry, my father is gone. He was trapped in the virtual reality computer...I made sure of it. I am stuck in here, and wont bother you further until we land." With that, the text finally ended.

Despite what it said though, Kaiba continued to be concerned about it. He didn't trust Noah, and the safety of his brother came first.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Once they landed and were settled in their expected location, they entered their newly bought office complex, where they were setting up. Kaiba made sure to find exactly where Noah's thoughts had dumped himself into and had that removed. He then placed it into a separate computer, where he also hooked up his own duel monster projection to. By hooking that up, he would be able to download Noah's memory and project himself as a hologram on a special pad made for him, so that they could better communicate to each other.

Mokuba had been hopping around him, anxiously awaiting to see his new stepbrother Noah, again. Once everything was attached, he turned it on. Kaiba then sat back, crossed his arms, and asked aloud, "Noah, can you hear me?"

The projector activated, and Noah's image appeared before him. "Thank you, Seto...thanks for freeing me from that machine. I wouldn't be able to do anything if it wasn't for your modifications. It's so good to be able to see you both again."

Kaiba turned away, as Mokuba jumped over, saying, "Noah, I can't believe it's you! I was worried that you didn't survive!"

"I didn't think I'd make it, either. Father fought so hard against me to be freed of that world. Finally, as everything was disintegrating, I quickly jumped through my own back door that I also immediately closed up, and escaped into the ship's computer. He was so busy fighting me, he didn't take the time to find another possible escape route." Noah said. He then sighed, "Well...I suppose there's really nothing you can do for me, except maybe make another virtual reality world, like my father originally made for me."

Mokuba looked over, saying, "Seto...is there anything else we can do for him?"

Kaiba clenched both hands together, placing them in front of his lips, in thought. "Well...there is another possibility..."

"What is it?" both Mokuba and Noah asked at the same time.

Kaiba looked over at Noah, stating, "Instead of bringing you further into the machine, we can expand the machine to draw you further into reality. But there is one minor problem in doing this..."

"What is it?" Noah asked.

"If I did this, I would basically be trusting you with a great deal of control over the computers I expand you into. And to be perfectly honest, Noah...I haven't found any reason to trust you enough in order to take such liberties." Kaiba stated coldly.

"Seto!" Mokuba said, in protest.

Noah looked down, saying, "You're right, Seto. I have treated the both of you terribly. But you have to understand...I never knew a real family. I-I didn't even know what a real life could be. I haven't been able to actually live in so long...I miss being able to be with people. All I had for company was my father, who I was constantly under the mercy of. I never had another side to show me what a horrible person my father was. I thought he was trying to help me...trying to save me. I was wrong...about everything. Could you ever forgive me?"

"It's easy to forgive, Noah. But it's not so easy to trust." Kaiba answered.

"Seto, please. We gotta help him!" Mokuba said. He placed a hand on Kaiba's sleeve, saying, "He's our family, and you said yourself...family always sticks together."

Kaiba turned to look at Noah, and stated, "He's not blood family. Our only affiliation is through legal paperwork, which also doesn't count when he's considered dead." Kaiba then stood, and walked off.

"It's okay, Mokuba. You're brother has a good reason for hating me. I tried to separate you from him, I brainwashed you, I hurt you both. How could I expect any better from him?" Noah said.

Mokuba approached the hologram, saying, "Yeah...he probably isn't very happy with you." Mokuba then brightened, adding, "But, don't you worry, Noah. I wont give up on you. I promise you, my big brother will help you. And in time we'll be a family!"

"Why do you care about me so much, Mokuba?" Noah said.

Mokuba shrugged, saying, "Don't be so down on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes...even Seto did some really bad things at one time. But he's not like that anymore, and neither are you. I'll be here to visit you every day, and let you know what's happening. Okay?"

"Thank you, Mokuba. I guess I'll see you later." Noah said, looking sad. After all, Noah had heard these words before, from his own father. They see him for awhile, then get bored and eventually deal with their own world...forgetting about him, once again.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There was a knock at the door, as Kaiba bid whoever it was to enter. Mokuba came into the room that was strewn with computer equipment, as Kaiba was punching in all sorts of data to the new Kaiba Land. Mokuba approached his brother, and said, "Seto...when will you start working on Noah?"

There was a pause, as he glanced at Mokuba. He knew his brother wouldn't accept a 'no' for an answer, but he didn't trust Noah, either. "I'll see if next week I can get a crew to hook up an individual computer system, to place one of those projectors in every part of this complex. That way, Noah can jump around the different rooms freely to communicate with who he wants. Is that acceptable to you?"

Mokuba scuffed his feet, saying, "I have a feeling that you know a way to let him do more, Seto."

"I do...but I don't intend on using that idea." Kaiba answered flatly.

Mokuba said, "But, Noah needs his freedom. Please Seto, you have to help him!"

"I'm sorry Mokuba, but I can't afford to trust him. From what I've seen, he's simply too dangerous." Kaiba answered his brother.

"But he's changed, Seto! He's not like that, anymore. He wants to get to know us, and...he's also my brother." Mokuba said.

"He's not your brother!" Seto snapped, not sure if it was distrust or perhaps even a bit of jealousy he felt, since Mokuba had been suddenly having this urge to 'share' brotherly love with his stepbrother. "He's Gozaburo's little brat, and we both know how evil he was. How can you sit there and ask me to help him, after all he did to us? As much as it pains me to even think this...if it wasn't for Yugi, we could still be there stuck in that virtual world, never being able to be with each other again. Doesn't that mean anything to you? I know it does for me. I'm not taking the chance of him putting you in danger again!"

Mokuba put his head down, saying, "He made a mistake, Seto. And...he's not the only one who's made mistakes in their lives. I once made a mistake being so mean to Yugi and his friends. You once made a mistake, too. It was during Death T, when you were willing to-"

"Enough!" Kaiba snapped at Mokuba, his eyes twitched. There was a long pause of silence, both knowing where Mokuba was going with that. Kaiba finally replied to it, saying, "You promised we'd never bring that time up again..."

"I know I did." Mokuba said sadly. "But I couldn't think of any way of showing you that even family can sometimes do things that they don't mean to do. I know that deep in your heart you'd never want to hurt me, Seto. It wasn't you during that time...Gozaburo corrupted us all, even Noah. Can't he also have a second chance? Please, Seto?"

Kaiba dropped down to his knees then, and hugged Mokuba. How could he deny his brother, after that? Deep inside, he knew he still owed his brother from that time...a debt he would never truly be able to pay back, no matter what.

There was so much darkness consuming him back then, that it blinded him to the obvious. His whole life, his whole existence, the reason for taking over Kaiba Corp, was for the sake of his brother Mokuba...so that his brother could lead a normal and comfortable life. In one stupid moment in his life, he almost threw that all away. To this day, he never forgave himself for failing, and allowing Gozaburo to finally break him.

Noah was also making sure to rub his past into his face, in that virtual reality world. But one thing Kaiba didn't understand was why Noah didn't throw Death-T in his face, instead of a minor conflict they had when dealing with Gozaburo's stocks, in order to win the company? And Noah was right, too...he was mean to Mokuba to win that battle. But Noah didn't understand that it was all part of the game.

Kaiba did that on purpose in order to deceive his stepfather, knowing that Mokuba would still be loyal to him in the end. His brother that would blindly trust him, no matter what he did to him. He probably shouldn't have taken advantage of him during that time, but then...Kaiba was desperate. He might have been mean to Mokuba, but in the end he knew that moment would also save Mokuba.

Because of that, he never regretted that decision he made, even now. But the other time, while he was obsessing over beating Yugi, it could have cost him his brother's life and he was more than willing to push the button in order to seal his brother's fate. He was so consumed with being the best of everything, only power mattered...just like his stepfather. Yugi saved him from himself, unlocking his heart once again, removing the darkness that had blinded him.

As the giant amusement park/video game center was being built, Kaiba had designed these pods to be in just about every room in the Kaiba building. Noah was asked not to disturb employees if he could avoid it, and try and stick with talking to mostly just family, if he could...or atleast what Mokuba considered family, since Kaiba was still refusing to accept him as such.

Within these pod areas, the holographic image of Noah could be placed in every or any space that had one in it. With it, it allowed him to use it like a simple camera and view an entire room, and also talk freely with whoever was in it. At his choice, he could also create his form, allowing someone to have someone to talk to, instead of simply a speaker. It didn't actually take much effort to get these plugged in, and the system was relatively safe. It was on a totally different computer from any of his other machines, which guaranteed Noah could do no harm. Noah's system was also on a special generator, so that no matter what happened, he would not be deactivated.

Even though a system shut-down couldn't actually kill Noah, he still hated being turned off. While Noah was off, there was absolutely nothing...like he really 'was' dead. He hated that feeling. Noah was thrilled by the idea that Kaiba created. Instead of him living in a 'pretend' world, he would be able to freely communicate to whoever he wanted. The problem was he was limited to the pods, he couldn't do any kind of computer research since he was locked from all other computers, and he didn't feel like he was in the real world like virtual reality gave to him.

Kaiba understood this, and said this would have to do atleast for now, until they could get their work on Kaiba Land closer to completion. After all, time was money, and the longer it took for this to open, the more money they were wasting over here. Noah understood and realized he'd have to be patient. As it was, he was shocked to hear that Mokuba had somehow convinced his brother to take the next step after this, though Mokuba refused to tell him how he did it, no matter how much Noah pried.

This next step was something that Kaiba had thought long and hard on. It had a real bad down side to it, if Noah betrayed them...but if Noah could be trusted, it could infact have some very positive effects to this.

The next step would require hooking all of Kaiba's computers with Noah's system, then attaching sensory devices on the ceiling and floor of the entire building...perhaps also the video game area of Kaiba Land, as well. These sensory devices could be the next incredible step for Kaiba's holographic monster images. If this worked, it would allow Noah to freely move around the entire building and video game center, interacting with whomever he spoke to, even play with...so long as it didn't require touching. This would also give Noah the ability of total control over Kaiba's computer systems.

But, on the down side, that also meant that if Noah betrayed him...Kaiba Corp could be in serious danger. Yet, if Noah really bonded with them and accepted them as some kind of family, then he could use this control for the most incredible security ever, whether that be break-ins, burglary, pirating, computer viruses or worms. Whatever it was, Noah could witness it all and assist from his end. He could infact feel needed, having his own job. He could use the computers to research whatever he wanted, travel on the web, bypass through computer systems that no normal computer hacking device could ever normally do. It was almost endless the uses. Kaiba knew this, but he also had to balance that with the chances he was taking. That's why he would take this slowly, to make certain Noah could be trusted enough.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As usual, Kaiba was in his office room, working on his project. As he continued his work, the holographic pad activated, and Noah's image appeared. He glanced over at the older brother, saying, "Hello, Seto."

"Noah." he answered flatly, without turning around.

Noah paused, looking around the office, as he considered what to say to him. "Um...I have been checking out this new pad system of yours. I really like it...thank you."

"Mmm-hmm." Kaiba blankly said.

Again, a long moment passed, before Noah added, "I noticed I'm able to use the pads to not only have me appear in one place at a time, but multiple places. I'm presently talking to Mokuba too, down the hall. It's kind of strange being able to do so; but rather fun, really."

Kaiba simply grunted a reply, barely acknowledging him.

Noah glanced over at Kaiba's project, and then said, "I recognize that...it's your outline for Kaiba Land. How's it coming?"

"Fine." Kaiba answered.

Noah gave a slight chuckle, saying, "I think I got more of a conversation out of you, during Battle City."

"It's not wise to bring up old wounds." Kaiba stated coldly, as he continued to work.

Noah lowered his head, saying, "Sorry." He looked back over at the map, saying, "Can I help?"

"Help what?" Kaiba asked.

Noah answered, "Help with the amusement park project."

"That's not possible." Kaiba stated. "You're not hooked up to the same system."

"That's okay." Noah said. "I don't have to be, really. With your camera system, I can simply use it to get a zoom focus of your screen, make an internal image scan, and...now I have information of your map in my system."


	23. C23 Virtual World – Aftermath II

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199.

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_**C23 Virtual World – Aftermath II**_

Kaiba turned to look at Noah finally, to see he had an exact duplicate of the map in his holographic image, instead of Noah standing there. Noah noticed he finally looked over and quickly added, "I can also use the knowledge I remember about it, when I had it in the virtual reality computers, and edit the image to look more realistic...see?" Sure enough, the 2-d map of it, grew...coming to life before Kaiba's eyes to make a 3d view of it, as a miniature version of what it might look like. "Personally, I think your food concession should be spread out more. Uh...well, that's my opinion, anyway."

Kaiba looked over what Noah had created, and approached the holographic display. He crossed his arms, looking it over. Finally after a moment, Kaiba broke the silence, saying, "Show me your idea."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Noah asked. He expected many things out of Kaiba's mouth, most of them involving insults, but that was not among them.

"You were able to recreate my Virtual Reality Kaiba Land from the combination of what you remember combined with my maps. Now modify it to show me your opinion on where you think the concession stands should go." Kaiba said.

"Oh. Well...of course!" Noah said excitedly. In a moment, the map lowered down to a 2d look, was changed around, then came back up into 3d format. "I was thinking you could draw more customers to them, if you focused some near the entrance, as well as some over at the games area, and park over here."

"I already considered that, but it makes it more cluttered and offers less space for other things. If we kept it focused in the center like a food court, it would offer the same amount of walking space from wherever you are, whether you are in the amusement park section or the gaming area. Plus, there are still ice-cream and drink stands in other locations." Kaiba countered.

"Logical...but Kaiba Land is going to be so big, you shouldn't need that much extra space. And even if the walking has been balanced, it's still going to be a long walk from the outer areas." Noah said.

"All right...then perhaps we can keep it like that, and instead have smaller snack stands in the key regions. Snacks offer the most profit, anyway. Plus, if they're too lazy to walk a couple more feet, they can feel free to chow down on junk food." Kaiba smirked.

Noah laughed at that. But after that, Noah was shocked to find that Kaiba was willing to talk to and even work with some of Noah's ideas. Though Kaiba didn't outwardly say it, Noah could swear that Kaiba seemed to actually value his opinion on the project.

Noah didn't remember the last time he felt so needed or important. Anytime he had tried to offer opinions to his own father, his thoughts were pushed aside as insignificant, as if Noah's ideas meant nothing. Noah felt like he had all the knowledge an ideas of the whole world bottled up in him, when he was in the virtual reality system...and none of that mattered to his own father.

Of course, it wasn't the same now as it was before. Because Noah had escaped to be in the small jet, most of his knowledge he obtained was also abandoned, like a piece of memory in a computer...he had lost a great deal of that knowledge. But slowly he was gaining it back again, and planned to do whatever he could to use that knowledge to help his new family. And unlike his father, it looked like they were actually willing to listen. He knew that Kaiba still didn't trust him, but was surprised that he actually allowed him to have any input at all. He would make sure that Seto was proud of him and worthy of his new trust, no matter what he had to do to gain it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Noah had talked and played with Mokuba during the day. Mokuba was so willing to bond to Noah, so happy to have another brother to play with. Unlike Seto, Noah had the time...and Mokuba would play whatever he could with Noah. Mokuba had set up some board games, like chess and checkers. Mokuba would moved the piece for Noah, that he told Mokuba to move. From there, they moved on to cards. Cards were the first game that would be based on trust. Mokuba would show him the card, not looking at it, himself...allowing Noah to create a holographic image. He then put it aside, and they played. Noah was passionate about not cheating, one step in proving he could be trusted to both him, Mokuba, and Kaiba. And Mokuba knew he was being honest too, since he wasn't winning that often at it.

Finally night time came, and Mokuba headed to his bedroom to sleep. It was the time Noah dreaded the most, because he did not sleep...and things became lonely and boring for him.

But as he checked out the area with the security cameras, he found out that Kaiba was still up...quite amazed at just how long Kaiba would stay up and still get up early in the morning.

As Kaiba continued to type on his computer, the voice of Noah finally rang out, asking, "Seto...how do you do it?"

"Do what?" Kaiba asked.

"How do you get such a small amount of sleep, and not let it bother you any? You're just as much a human as everyone else...so why do you sleep so much less than them?" Noah asked.

Kaiba hesitated now, and asked, "Don't you know? Didn't your 'father' put you through the same 'special' training to be in charge of Kaiba Corp, before the accident? Oh, that's right...what am I thinking? He spoiled you rotten. You didn't have to lift a finger in your life, pampered by all his peon servants."

"Wh-what are you saying? I mean...I know that my father never treated you as his own, and used you as he used me. But you two still got just as much out of his wealth as I did, before the accident. You have no right to complain!" Noah snapped, though not meaning to. He still felt the pain of them having everything that was meant for him...he couldn't help it. No matter how old he really was, he was still just a child that never had a chance to grow.

Kaiba offered a small chuckle at Noah's retort, saying, "So...still jealous, huh? You really don't know...do you? You know, I've been curious about that." Kaiba turned to face Noah's holographic display now, saying, "There were many hard times between me and my brother at that mansion. What you picked out to use against me in your Virtual World was minor in comparison. I had always wondered why you chose that one particular event to throw in my face. But you really don't know any of it, do you? Where did you get your information, Noah? How did you find out everything you did about us?"

Noah answered, "The orphanage was easy. Since I had so much time in the virtual world with father, he told me everything that happened...as well as the chess game. As for the time at the mansion...except for the pieces father told me, the rest I had to obtain, myself. Much like your own system, I was also able to see into the real world, from the cameras in the mansion, while I was hooked up. But unlike yourself, I wasn't given permission to do so...I was afraid to use the cameras. If my father found out, he might be afraid I had obtained too much power over the security system, and reduce the size of my world. But once a week, they did a system's dump on the computer at the mansion...and I took the liberty to tap into the cameras then, when I didn't leave a trace in the computer."

"I see. So once a week, you had two hours to spy on us." Kaiba said, coldly.

Noah looked down, saying, "I had hoped my father was around at that time to get a chance to see him, but his schedule always had him out on meetings. You two were the only other people I found worth watching. Normally I saw you two together enjoying yourselves, or Mokuba was playing while you were working in your room, getting all the best tutors that were meant to be for me."

"Believe me kid, you didn't want the tutors I had." Kaiba muttered, turning away.

"Why not?" Noah asked. Then returning to the subject, he said, "The point was, I saw what you had. It was everything that I had and lost. So, what if I'm jealous...I can't help that. Even if you didn't have anything from my father, you still have more than I have...you have a body, and a life. I...I have nothing."

"I'm trying to give you more, if you stop whining about it." Kaiba snapped. "And don't even think to blame us for what you're lacking in. Seeing that your options were living this life, or being dead...you should be happy you for what you got. And you're changing the subject. We're not talking about your jealousy over not having a body, we're talking about your jealousy over not having control of Kaiba Corp."

"I...I'm sorry." Noah said. He turned away, adding, "But I don't understand. You tell me whatever the problem I'm having, I shouldn't complain about it. Yet, how can I help not to complain about it, when all you can do is complain about everything you had, that I didn't? How can you sit there and tell me I'm lucky for not having what you had...you had everything!"

"You're wrong, Noah!" Kaiba snapped, turning back to look at the holographic projection. "I did not get the same treatment as you did. Oh, I did in some cases...your sick and twisted father decided to turn me into the image of you, by dressing me up as you and having my hair dyed your color, which I've sure you've seen. That was about the extent of what I got that belonged to you. Everything else went down hill from there. I learned not to get any sleep, because many times I learned that letting myself sleep might mean my end. He had tutors teach me the hard way about everything...any time I made a mistake, he made sure I paid the price for it. And I let him...I let him do it all, in order to protect Mokuba. Yes, we were quite close during those times that Gozaburo left on his meetings. It was the few times we got to spend with each other together. Any other time we were locked away from each other. The only way I found to stop the madness and save Mokuba from this hell, we had now been forced to call home, was to beat your father at his own game. Did Gozaburo tell you the story on how and why I took over his business? And I'm not talking about that crap story that one of the Big 5 decided to mention."

"What are you saying...that is was a lie? Are you still going to deny that you treated Mokuba that way, and that you were the one that leaked that information to father?" Noah asked.

"That was told from the opinion of an outsider, who had no idea what the game was really about. Those were the thoughts of an ex-employee looking for revenge. That game was more than just a power struggle. Yes, the winner would take claim of Kaiba Corp. But the loser was also to forfeit his life. That was the penalty game...and I won. It's true I deceived Mokuba, but I did it to protect him. You have no idea how many times Mokuba's life was threatened, how many times I had to prove to your father that I didn't care about him...in order to keep him safe and not get punished the way I did." Kaiba turned away, muttering quietly. "I suppose after awhile, I might have gotten used to treating him that way. But sometimes it had to be done for his own good. I never did it on purpose to hurt him."

"No...it can't be true." Noah said. "Father's not like that. He would never really hurt anyone. And if this game was supposed to be about death, he probably only meant that since he was going to originally transfer me into your mind. He never intended to lose."

There was another pause of silence, since Kaiba didn't bother to respond to him. After another moment, Noah spoke again, asking, "So...what did you do to father, after you won the company. He never told me. Are you the one that sent him to the hospital, to never wake up?"

"No." Kaiba answered. "He did that on his own. When he failed the game, your father decided to teach me one final lesson...that failure equals death. So, he opened the window at the highest floor of Kaiba Corp, and jumped out. I never forgot the lesson."

"F-father...he jumped?" Noah asked.

Kaiba turned away, saying, "Maybe you've been told enough. You should go."

"Wait!" Noah said, remembering something else. "Earlier before that challenge, you mentioned during your studies that if you made a mistake, you paid the price for it...a price you didn't want Mokuba to get. What did they do?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Kaiba said coldly.

"Please?" Noah asked. When he was returned with silence, Noah sighed. "You told me it will take a long time before you ever trust me. But trust also works both ways. If you keep things from me, then how will I ever learn to trust you?"

Kaiba glared into Noah's holographic form for a long moment, considering what Noah said. If it wasn't that Mokuba wanted this, if it wasn't that he agreed to do this, if it wasn't that he wanted Noah to trust them to ensure there would be no problems after he took the final step to plug him in...he would have never even considered the idea of giving Noah what he wanted. But after those three considerations, he decided perhaps it would be best to allow Noah to know exactly what his father was truly capable of.

"All right." Kaiba said as he stood and took a few steps to approach the pod. Kaiba then began to undo his tie and button down his shirt.

Noah's eyes widened, unsure exactly why Kaiba seemed to be taking off his clothes. "W-what are you doing?" he nervously asked.

"I'm not much of a talker when it comes to personal matters. And from I've been told, a picture's better than a thousand words. This is something I never even shown Mokuba. So I'd appreciate it if you don't tell him. Maybe this will even make a nice test for you...to see how well you can keep a family secret." Kaiba smirked, as he removed his suit coat and was about to remove his shirt.

"Did you say family?" Noah said, almost ecstatically. Then the shirt came off, and he allowed Noah to see the scars that remained underneath.

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Noah's eyes widened in shock and horror. "No...my father would never do something like that to anyone! He...he's not like that!"

"Your father may have never been able to bring himself to do this to his own son. But I wasn't his son. I was the new heir to Kaiba Corp, that he wanted to ensure didn't become lazy and spoiled. This was his lesson of ensuring that." he answered Noah.

Kaiba then turned away, slipping the shirt back on. "The worst was actually the sleep deprivation he gave me. My work was timed, and if I couldn't succeed quick enough...I wasn't allowed to sleep. I suppose that's why sleep doesn't mean that much to me, now. These scratches are nothing compared to that."

A small laugh then escaped Kaiba's lips that were directed at himself, as he muttered, "But they are probably the reason I always wear long sleeves. Don't get me wrong...it's not shame that brings me to keep it hidden. These markings to me symbolize badges to my personal victories, after I defeated your father. But the last thing I needed was anyone looking down at me, like I was some sort of victim...especially Mokuba."

"W-was it my father that did this...or someone that worked for him?" Noah asked, afraid of knowing.

"It depends on the mark." Kaiba answered. "Some he ordered my tutor to do if I made a mistake. Some were from my fighting instructor to ensure I learned never to show mercy. Then others were from your father, to make sure I understood who was supposedly in charge over me. It was the third lesson that I had the most trouble learning."

"Seto, I - I'm..."

"You're what?" Kaiba snapped. "You're sorry? Do you think I showed this to you for pity? Now, you know why no one else knows about this."

Kaiba then moved back to his desk and had a seat, ready to continue his typing. "I have work to do. Go amuse yourself somewhere else for awhile."

"Yes, Seto." Noah said, dropping his head down.

And Noah had plenty to do for the rest of that night. For hours, he mentally beat himself up from guilt over the fact that his father caused such pain to those that had accepted him as a brother. Guilt wracked Noah's mind to think all this time he had felt mostly jealousy towards them. He even hurt them and tried to separate them in order to get what they had and he didn't. It never occurred to him how bad they had it.

"Why, father? Why did you do this? Why didn't you tell me the truth!" Noah cried into his system, feeling surges of energy from his conflicting emotions causing the system to near overload. But at the moment, he didn't care. He felt his father had put him in shame by abusing those that were willing to do so much for him. 'I don't deserve this. I should have died with my father...it would be the just punishment I deserved for what he had done to them! It's no wonder Seto hates me so much! I'm so sorry, Seto!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was morning, and Kaiba got up early. The first thing he noticed was one of the holographic pods were flickering strangely. "What in the...?"

He immediately went to the mainframe that held Noah, and noticed the system seemed to have overloaded last night. For the next hour, he fixed the system up and powered it back on.

Noah appeared, asking in a panic, "Wha--...what happened?"

"That's what I'd like to know. From what I can tell, you seemed to have gone through a power surge. Do you have any idea what could have caused this?" Kaiba asked.

"I..." Noah began to stutter, trying to figure it out. Then everything came back to him at once, and he quickly realized. He lowered his head, saying, "I'm sorry, Seto. It's my fault. I didn't mean it. It wont happen again."

"I want to know what happened." Kaiba demanded.

Noah couldn't tell him. Just trying to say 'I'm sorry' seemed to upset Kaiba last night. No, Kaiba didn't want to hear that...he more than explained he didn't want to be pitied. The least he could do was respect Kaiba's wishes.

So, with a nervous laugh, he muttered, "I guess I just got bored last night, and started playing with one too many things on the system. I'll make sure not to do it again."

"Bored?" Kaiba asked. He never thought about it before, but it would make sense. With everyone asleep, Noah wouldn't have anything to do. "Hmmm...I'll see if what I can do about that."

"What do you mean?" Noah said.

Kaiba gave a smirk, saying, "I should have realized...you sleep even less than I do. I think I could come up with something to help you with that problem."

"Really?" Noah asked. But why would Kaiba do that for him? 'Seto hates me...so why should he care?'

After that day, Kaiba used any of his extra time at night to give Noah a number of challenging computer game systems to go through. The games were simply there if Noah couldn't find anything else to do. But that wasn't all Kaiba gave for Noah. He decided to use Noah as a night time worker for Kaiba Corp. Many projects and ideas that Kaiba never had the time to complete, he decided to load into Noah's system. Perhaps Noah could come up with something on these projects that he never thought of. On top of that, he began to download paperwork into Noah's system that would make Kaiba's job a lot easier if they were done for him by the next morning.

Not only was Noah absolutely ecstatic about these new files loaded to him, this allowed Kaiba to gain more time to get the system done...in order to further Noah's freedom. And during the day, Kaiba began to allow Noah to assist him more and more with the projects involving Kaiba Land.

Even though Kaiba never outwardly said it, Noah had believed that maybe deep-down Kaiba had finally begun to trust him and accept him as a member of their family. And the day Kaiba officially connected Noah into the main computer, was the day Noah counted that as more than proof of his belief. Kaiba was not one after all to actually speak of his affections towards anyone.

It was far from the perfect family. But for Noah, this was better than any family he's ever really had. Even if he couldn't touch anything. All Noah ever really craved for was attention from other real live people. And for once, he was getting that.

(End Flashback)

"So ever since then, slowly but surely Seto's been giving Noah more and more access a little at a time." Mokuba explained.

Of course, the details of what VWKaiba told Noah that day wasn't actually told to Kaiba. But after Mokuba mentioned that VWKaiba talked to Noah about his childhood, which caused a sudden pale look on Noah's face, Kaiba had a good indication of what was said that night.

Noah added, enthusiastically, "I do my best to help him and Mokuba out whenever I can. I know Seto still doesn't trust me. But I think over time that will change."

"Don't bet on it. I don't care how much you supposedly changed, Noah. You will never get total trust out of me. I don't have to be from this universe to know that..." Kaiba sneered coldly at Noah, as he responded.

"I'd expect nothing less from you, Seto." Noah said sadly. "You trust no one that much."

Kaiba glared at Noah, then turned away from him, saying, "You're wrong, Noah. I guess it shows just how little you know about me."

"Really? And who could that be? I didn't even think you trust yourself that much..." Noah said, giving his own smirk.

"Yeah, big brother...who? Tell us!" Mokuba said.

Kaiba turned, looking down at Mokuba, surprised. 'Didn't he know?'

Kaiba eyes suddenly softened, as he squatted down on his knees to reach Mokuba's level and smiled, "You, of course. Who else would I be talking about?" It made Kaiba inwardly concerned about his own brother, though. Could his Mokuba not know, as well? It's true he didn't always spend that much time with him, but Mokuba had to know how he felt. He made sure to quickly make a mental promise to himself to take Mokuba out somewhere very special when he got back, to make up for all the work he'd been doing, lately

"Really?" Mokuba asked, his eyes shinning!

Kaiba ruffled his hair, saying, "Do you really need to ask that?" Mokuba just giggled from the hair ruffling and finally gave him a hug, so happy to hear Seto say that, even if it wasn't officially 'his' Seto...and in front of Noah, no less.

"Didn't you say you had a mission to complete?" Noah asked bitterly, suddenly wanting rid of this Seto Kaiba. At least their Seto he'd been able to wear down enough, that he no longer showed the hate he once had for him. And watching him and Mokuba together like that, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous from it.

"Oh, can't you stay a little longer, Seto? I want to hear more about the other realities you've been to!"

"I'd love to, kiddo. But as much as I hate to admit it…Noah's right. You are in danger in this other world, and I need to get there and help you." Kaiba replied.

Mokuba was a little sad to know he was leaving, but said, "It's okay, big brother….I understand. I hope you find the world you're looking for very soon!"

Kaiba smiled down at Mokuba, thinking, 'Finally, after all the universes I've been to so far...I find one version of Mokuba that seems to be just like my own brother. If it hadn't been for Noah, I'd almost think I ended up back in my own reality...'

"I hope so, too. I wish I could stay and tell you more, but I must be going." Kaiba said kissing the little boys head. Kaiba then glared dangerously at Noah, saying, "You hurt him, Noah...and I'll find my way back here and personally unplug you!"

Noah smirked. "Of course, I'd expect nothing less of you, Seto. Believe me, I love Mokuba and would never hurt him. I promise you I will protect him as best as I can."

"Good. I'll hold you to your word. Good-bye, Mokuba."

"Bye. Hope you find what you're looking for. Good luck!"

The only part Kaiba didn't fully understand was the part about them being trapped in a virtual world. Mokuba explained it as if Kaiba would know what he was talking about. But he didn't question it, either. Instead, he decided he'd make another note to keep a careful eye on Mokuba and watch out for Noah, when he started his Battle City Tournament.

Kaiba then opened the box, and hoped Mokuba was right about finding the correct reality soon.


	24. C24 Morality Esque

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199. I rewrote parts for the remake and Clarity went over and smoothed the parts out. If you've read this the first time around then look again cause it's slightly different.

**Warning: **This chapter does contain…mild incest. (Mokuba/Seto)

NO FLAMES! YES, I ALREADY KNOW WE'RE BOTH SICK IN THE HEAD. WHAT'S YOUR POINT? IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN DON'T READ IT! YOU WERE WARNED THAT THERE WOULD BE A CHAPTER LIKE THIS AT THE START OF THE STORY. SO IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR THEN YOU CAN EITHER LEARN TO LIVE WITH IT OR MOVE ON! Flamers only prove their stupid and can't read warnings!

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_**C24 Morality Esque**_

Kaiba had awoken, of all places...in his room, in bed. He looked around, wondering how he ended up here. 'Must be morning in this world.' He thought, not knowing any other excuse for it.

Before he could get out of bed, he felt something shift under the covers next to him. At first, he thought nothing of it, assuming it was probably just his brother. After all, in his world it wasn't surprising to find Mokuba curling up in his bed from a possible nightmare.

But as he began to remove the covers from him, he froze finding himself in nothing but his birthday suit! Well...save the pendant still around his neck, and the deck of cards and gold box conveniently on his night stand. But what did it mean? This was definitely 'not' how he normally went to bed at night. And if he had no clothes, that meant the person in bed couldn't be Mokuba next to him. But then, who was it?

Scenarios of potential horrors quickly went swirling through his mind. Could it be Joey again? Maybe it was worst...maybe it was Yugi! Maybe even...(shudders) Tea!

Kaiba quickly shook such a horrible thought from his mind, trying anything to purge even a glimmer of a naked Tea beside him. That was just too much...nothing could be worst than that! But, then who was it? Could he have accidentally adjusted the box to go back to the first world he visited?

When he originally made this trip, he never even fathomed the idea of relationships with others. He always assumed he'd be alone, just the way he liked it. He probably shouldn't have made such an assumption, especially since Seto actually 'was' dating Tea. Depending who it was would also depend on how easily he would be able to get rid of them. If it was Tea, he'd toss her out so fast, she wouldn't know what happened...tears or not. But, Joey...

After so stupidly letting himself get drunk and sleeping with the mutt, it would be too awkward to so easily treat him as badly...especially if it was the same universe again. Especially if Joey all ready had all the knowledge of who he was. Kaiba thought he could handle anything...he was wrong. But he wasn't going to back down and run away, either. He would face it as yet another opponent, another obstacle. Yes, even Joey as a past opponent...he'd defeat the situation and move on.

Kaiba turned over, keeping the covers tight on himself to keep himself hidden, as he cautiously reached over to pull the covers down and reveal who was in bed with him. 'It can't be worst than Tea.' he repeated over and over in his head, keeping his hand from trembling as he grasped the covers and began to slide them down.

Just before he could find out who it was, his 'opponent' suddenly shifted, sat up and stretched into a yawn. Kaiba's face turned white as a ghost, his eyes as wide as saucers...yes, it was worst. Much worst. It was his brother, Mokuba.

As Kaiba expected and feared, his little brother was also entirely naked. He finished his yawn, and casually scratched the back of his head, looking around. Finally, lazily turning towards what appeared to be a petrified brother, Mokuba blinked a few times, and muttered, "Morning, Seto. You have a bad dream or something?"

"...something." he nearly squeaked, still too frightened to move.

Mokuba smiled happily, and said, "Well, don't worry about that, big brother. I'll help get rid of all your bad dreams!" Instantly, he pounced on his brother, kissing him passionately on the lips.

Kaiba's mind was in a panic...having trouble comprehending what was happening, and what he had to do to stop it. He was ready to battle against anything, but Mokuba couldn't be his opponent! He made the dire mistake to turn on his brother once, and swore that would never happen again. Of course, when that self-promise was made, he never imagined being in such a shocking situation. How was he supposed to handle this? This was too much. It was just...wrong!

For a moment, Mokuba pulled back sensing something different about his brother. What was it? Was something wrong? For a second, Mokuba worried if maybe his brother was starting to act guilty once again for his feelings towards him. But immediately, he decided if that were the case, he would just have to push harder to ensure and break him from his hesitation, once again.

So, Mokuba kissed again, this time pushing his tongue passed Kaiba's lips and into his mouth. Instantly after, Mokuba's hands were all ready beginning to explore Kaiba's very exposed self under the sheets.

Finally, Kaiba recovered from the shock and horror that had been overwhelming him. He managed to push Mokuba away, spitting out, "What the hell do you think you doing!"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing?'" Mokuba asked, irritated.

Then giving a suggestive grin, he pounced again...giving his brother a hungry look like he was a piece of meat. His hands started to slip down towards his member, as Mokuba pleaded, "Come on, Seto...don't be like that. You said you wouldn't act all weird about this, anymore. If it helps, I promise I'm not sore from last night, okay? So, don't stop, now...I wanna get to play, too. This time, it's your turn."

The words coming from Mokuba's mouth was even more frightening to Kaiba then Mokuba's behavior a moment ago. They made his stomach turn, just thinking about the insinuation behind it. "I said, stop it!" he said harshly, never speaking so coldly towards his brother before, as he tightly grabbed his wrists, forcibly stopping all action from his little brother.

"Ow, you're hurting me!" Mokuba said, looking over at Seto with a look of confusion and hurt.

Instantly, Kaiba realized his own panic was making him hurt his brother, and he let go just as quickly. The sadness in Mokuba's eyes then immediately changed to anger, as he asked, "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?"

"ME!" Kaiba sputtered out, looking at Mokuba, like he'd just grown another head. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't find what you did at all...wrong?"

Mokuba blinked, then let out an exasperated groan, sputtering out, "Not again. Seto, you said we wouldn't go through this again!" Mokuba was now getting upset over how his brother was behaving.

"Go...through...what?" Kaiba asked, almost afraid to know what he was talking about.

"You know what!" Mokuba pouted. "We're by ourselves in your bedroom! No one's going to know what we're doing. We're safe!" He said and planted another surprise kiss on him, fully intending on his kiss to be the end of the matter.

But it wasn't. Kaiba quickly pried him back off, this time leaping out of the bed to avoid that ever happening again. "Stop doing that!" He spat out, getting angry.

Mokuba was about to get angry again, but with Kaiba standing there all exposed...he just couldn't. He gave him an almost evil smirk, muttering, "That's a nice view."

Kaiba had forgotten for a moment he was completely naked, too busy escaping his brother. Blushing furiously, he immediately snatched the top cover, wrapping it around himself. Then, keeping himself from looking at his brother, Kaiba ordered, "Go put something on."

"Why...don't you like looking at me, now?" Mokuba almost purred, showing himself off more, instead. "Are you trying to pretend you didn't have any of this last night?"

Kaiba then turned and marched straight to his closet, going out of his way to show just how little he wanted to see him do that.

Mokuba watched him walk away, feeling even more hurt and confused, now. "Seto...don't be like that. Pleeaase?"

He hated hearing the pleading voice of his brother, especially after what he was insinuating. How can any version of him do such horrible things to Mokuba, knowing how young and innocent he was, well...supposed to be. At least he was, until this version of him took that away.

He shuddered at the thought, as he ripped the door open entering the walk-in closet.

Now taking a minute to get dressed, he tried to figure this whole thing out. 'In Seto's universe, Mokuba wasn't my brother. Maybe that's the reason this happened in this world. Perhaps he thinks Mokuba thinks he's not his brother here, either.' But he realized that idea didn't work at all. Mokuba even called him his big brother once.

Trying to figure this out was giving him a headache. After getting some clothes on, he left the closet cautiously, hoping not to see Mokuba trying not to attack him, anymore.

Mokuba no longer seemed to be in that kind of mood. Instead, he was just sitting on the bed with the rest of his covers wrapped around him. He was all balled up and seemed to be on the verge of tears. That only hurt him more, knowing he somehow caused Mokuba to be upset.

Kaiba walked over to him, as Mokuba looked up at him miserably. "Seto...why do you hate me?"

"Hate you?" Kaiba asked. "I don't hate you. What are you talking about?"

He looked down. "You told me we wouldn't fight about this, anymore. You said we'd be together and not let who we are get in the way..."

"We are together." Kaiba stated. "Why are you looking for more? Did you forget we are brothers, now?"

Mokuba now glared angrily at him, saying, "So what? That's all you ever say! What does it matter if it's legally right, or not? We both love each other and you know it! As long as we don't do it in public, we don't have to worry about it hurting us or the company...and you know I'd never do something like that if we weren't in private!"

"Mokuba..." Kaiba said softly. "Anything I feel for you is merely a 'brotherly' connection. It's strictly platonic...nothing more."

"If that's all it was, we wouldn't have done all that last night, or any other night! You promised..." Mokuba said, sadly.

Kaiba was about to ask exactly what he did last night, but decided he really didn't want to know. Instead, he asked, "And what exactly did I promise?"

"That you wouldn't fight with me about this again. You told me you felt the same way about me and you wanted it, too! So why are you fighting against something you want just as much!" Mokuba snapped back in frustration.

'I'm a monster.' Kaiba thought, feeling cold inside. 'I really am. There's no other way to explain it. In this world I must be some sort of sick pedophile, and...to my own brother?'

His mouth became dry just thinking of the horrors his poor brother may have endured from himself in this world. He was trying to keep himself from trembling from the sickening feeling going through him, at just picturing how terribly poor Mokuba had been emotionally abused by him. 'Look at him…he doesn't even know what that version of me has been doing to him.'

Kaiba also had a pretty good picture of just how far the Kaiba of this world went with Mokuba, after the things that Mokuba had said and done. Kaiba immediately wanted to run from this room, and from the nightmare quickly beginning to unfold in his head everything that had been done to Mokuba...but he couldn't. He came through so many various worlds, trying his best to help Mokuba whenever he could. Just as any other Mokuba he had run into, he couldn't simply turn his back on this one, either. He was responsible for messing up Mokuba's head in this world. It was his job to try and help undo the damage he was responsible for. 'No…..it's my fault. I can't just leave him like this.'

"Seto?" Mokuba asked. He was hoping by reminding his big brother of what they went through, that he'd snap out of it again. Yet, he had the strangest look on his face...it was fear, of all things.

Kaiba closed his eyes, then moved forward and hugged his brother. "Mokuba...I'm so sorry." He whispered, trying to swallow down the knot in his throat. For Kaiba, it wasn't pity he was showing. It was an apology for the crimes he committed. Maybe not him personally, but any version of him was still him. He was to blame for this.

Mokuba finally exhaled, saying, "It's okay, Seto...I know you get nervous about this. But don't worry, I promise no one will find out about this." Then he began to wrap his arms around Kaiba, trying to tuck his hands underneath Kaiba's shirt.

Again, Kaiba pulled Mokuba's hands off, but much gentler, this time. "Mokuba...I want you to listen to me. I'm sure you're really confused about this. The truth is, I'm not the Seto you know...I'm not from this world. I used an item that had been bringing me to various worlds. I'm trying to get to one world where I'm supposed to help save you from Noah. Unfortunately, this damn thing doesn't work very well."

"Language." Mokuba reminded him.

"Sorry." Kaiba instinctively said, then paused, looking up at him. It was so scary how this Mokuba was like his own, and doing what he was trying to do.

Mokuba then looked down, saying, "Am I that terrible to you that you have to pretend you're not even my brother, now?"

Kaiba gritted his teeth, saying, "You don't believe me? Look! Here it is! Do you believe me, now?"

He grabbed the item from the small table next to the bed, and showed it to Mokuba. For the moment, he stopped feeling sorry for himself and looked it over in wonder. As his hand approached it, Kaiba immediately pulled it back from him, saying, "Don't touch it. I wouldn't want it to accidentally bring you somewhere else. That would get too complicated." 'Then again it might be better for him if I did.'

"Is it magic?" he asked.

"Uh...well, it was given to me from someone called Aiko. I didn't bother to ask...I really didn't want to know." Kaiba answered awkwardly, not really wanting to admit it was probably magical.

Mokuba looked at Kaiba and sighed, "You're really 'not' my brother, are you? Then...where 'is' Seto?"

"From what I've heard so far, I hope he's very far away." Kaiba told him.

Finally, it hit Mokuba like a dead weight. Kaiba not being his brother made perfect sense why he resisted. He acted just like his brother used to, before he ever admitted anything...as if nothing had ever happened. And in this Kaiba's eyes, he probably did see this as the most terrible thing in the world.

With this newfound realization hitting him, Mokuba became alarmed and possibly even slightly fearful at the brother in front of him. "Seto...uh, you don't understand. You...I mean he...he really loves me."

"Loves you, by using you like that? How old are you, Mokuba?" Kaiba asked, sternly. 'He can't be much older than my Mokuba.'

"I'm 12." Mokuba said, but quickly added, "I know where you're going with this, and it doesn't matter! Just because I'm 12, doesn't mean I don't know what I want. And just because what we're doing is illegal doesn't mean it's wrong for us! Who cares what we're doing, as long as we both want it and we're happy. Isn't being happy all that really matters?"

"Happy? How can you possibly feel happy for having your own brother use you like that! And you shouldn't simply dismiss the legalities of this. Laws are put down for a reason, Mokuba!" Kaiba argued.

"You once said that we're Kaiba's! And Kaiba's can do what we want...no one can tell us otherwise. Do you remember that?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked away, saying, "Actually, yes. But I never believed that particular statement would be used in defense of what is happening here. There is obviously an extreme to every case; this is a prime example of that. Besides...we're not just looking at legalities. What your brother is doing to you is not only legally wrong, but also morally wrong in so many ways. Does he realize he can lose you if anyone ever found out? Did he ever consider that...does he care? Then again, maybe that would be a good thing..."

"Don't you dare ever say that! You know what it's like at the orphanage! It's terrible there!" Mokuba cried out, tears beginning to swell up, once again.

"I know perfectly well the hell hole we had to endure, but anything is better than the abuse that monster is doing to you!" Kaiba spat.

"He's not a monster, he's my brother and I love him and he loves me, too!" Mokuba screamed back.

"Mokuba, you are 12 years old! How can you even understand what that kind of love involves! How badly has he been using you? After the things you did and said to me, I can imagine it was pretty bad. What exactly did he do to you last night?" Kaiba asked.

"N-nothing..." Mokuba stuttered out, trying to hide the truth. Kaiba glared at him, then went for the nightstand, pulling on the drawer, remembering what was there in that other dimension when he and Joey were supposedly lovers. Mokuba tried to stop him, but it was too late. In the drawer was sure enough an open rather recently used jar of lubricant, to his horror. "It's not what you think!" Mokuba quickly spat out.

Kaiba glared at him, asking, "Then what would he be using this for...shoe polish?"

Mokuba looked down at his feet, saying, "Okay, so maybe it is what you think." unable to think of a good excuse. "But he's really gentle and makes sure to go really slow so he wouldn't hurt me. Besides it's not like I don't do it to him too."

Kaiba looked at Mokuba, mortified by what he just said. He then quickly tossed the item back into the drawer, like it was containing hidden anthrax or something, totally appalled by the thoughts this conversation was thrusting into his mind. "Never mind! I don't want to know anything more about it...I'm sorry I asked."

Mokuba tried to plead, "But, Seto..."

"I don't want to hear it!" Kaiba said, now beginning to pace nervously back and forth. "None of this makes any sense at all." He finally stopped and turned to Mokuba, saying, "How did any of this happen in the first place? How did it even start?"

"Are you sure you want me to tell you? Every time I say something, you only get angrier." Mokuba said.

Kaiba paused, looking down at Mokuba, knowing he was right and probably was going to regret hearing this. "You're right. But I still need to know...I have to know how this happened between you two." Kaiba had to know what the key could have been that caused this whole thing to start happening. Something that he had done in this world, that he obviously didn't do in his world to cause this.

Mokuba nodded, saying, "Okay. Well, it started 2 years ago..."

"That means you were ten." Kaiba said darkly. 'He started taking advantage of his own brother at 10 years old!' He thought, gaining more and more hate towards this version of himself the more he heard about him.

"Yeah, well...our school had the boys and girls separated in the gym to talk about the differences of girls and boys and what they went through when they got older." Mokuba said. "Well I got curious and wanted to know more, because some of the boys in my school were talking about catching their brothers doing things with their girlfriends and I got curious..."

Kaiba swallowed, "So, what happened?"

"I went to Seto and asked him about things. Like why do guys and girls stick their tongues in each other's mouths and..." Mokuba now blushed at the next question. "Well, what it feels like to have sex with another person."

Kaiba turned away, not facing Mokuba, as he asked, "How did he answer?"

"Well...he couldn't answer the second question. He'd never had sex with anyone yet." Mokuba giggled. "He told me that the tongue thing was just another way of kissing. So, I asked him if he could show me."

"So, he just did it?" Kaiba asked, whirling back around, staring at Mokuba.

"No! He explained that only people that love each other are supposed to do that. So, I said that we both love each other, why don't we normally do that? And he told me that it's against the rules, that it's not something that brothers are supposed to do and we could get in trouble. But while he was telling me this, I noticed he was getting redder and redder and kept moving around funny." Mokuba said and smiled remembering. "I think it made him feel weird thinking about it."

"I can understand that." Kaiba said, feeling very uncomfortable himself, though he had a feeling his discomfort was a lot different than how his other self felt at the time.

Mokuba replied, "That's when I reminded him that we're Kaiba's and that he said we can do whatever we want, and asked him to show me so I know what it is. That made him start thinking about it, so I added that we wouldn't be doing anything bad, cuz he'd only be teaching me something and he always told me..."

"...that there's no such thing as useless knowledge." Kaiba finished. It was a painful reminder of what he had said to Mokuba over and over, when his own little brother tried to get out of doing his homework. Mokuba would say he saw no reason in learning something, because he'd never use it when he got older.

Mokuba smiled up at Kaiba, nodding. "Yep. So, he gave in...deciding it couldn't hurt just to show me something quick. So, he pulled me forward and he gave me what he called a 'French kiss'. But when we started kissing, neither of us wanted to stop and began getting closer and closer to each other. When we finally broke away, Seto looked really guilty about it, but I told him it was okay, cuz I liked it. It didn't take much more talking, for him to listen to me after that. But... the next morning, when he woke up next to me, it caused a real problem. He told me how wrong it was and told me we couldn't ever do that again. This fight lasted almost a week, until I got him to finally talk about it. He realized after being away from me a week that it only caused him to hurt and want me more, and it made me hurt as well by him avoiding me."

"So, ever since then you two have been..." Kaiba stopped saying anything more, not wanting to word it or even think about it.

Mokuba nodded, "Well, on and off. We'd be with each other for a little while, but then he'd feel guilty and try to push me away again. It was only a 1/2 year ago when we had our final fight on it. That's when I made him promise he wouldn't ever do that again to us. He agreed...so ever since, he's been really good about staying with me, without pushing me away, anymore. That's why I was so upset when you did it, cuz I thought you were my brother, pushing me away again and breaking his promise to me." Mokuba said, then glared at Kaiba, saying, "I'm not ashamed of how I feel for him!"

"You shouldn't be...it's not your fault." Kaiba said coldly. Everything that Mokuba said to him was simply too much for Kaiba to handle listening to. Thoughts were now stirring in his head what to do to ensure this would not happen to Mokuba again, no matter whose Mokuba it was. It was bad enough all the things Mokuba had to endure in life, but to have to go through this by his own older brother, using him now for two years? 'That bastard should feel guilty for what he's been doing. What kind of monster am I, over here?' He thought.

Finally, Kaiba turned away, saying, "Go to your room, Mokuba. There're some things I need to do."

Mokuba suddenly looked fearful and clung to him, saying, "Seto, promise me you won't do anything to separate us!"

"I said go to your room." Kaiba hissed.

"No! You're not my brother; I don't have to listen to you! If you do something, you'll only hurt us more. I need my brother, Seto! I can't go on without him! Please! What makes you think because I'm 12 that I can't make a decision on what I want? You were 6 years old when you started taking care of me! You were 8 years old when you started to protect me from our stepfather, and you were 13 when you took over Kaiba Corp. So how can you discriminate against age, when you've always hated people doing the same thing to you?" Mokuba ranted at him.

That seemed to finally catch Kaiba's attention, as he looked down at Mokuba. As much as he wanted to argue on it...Mokuba was right. Forever he had fought against courts and all sorts of older people trying to judge him, due to his official age. He had to battle tooth and nail to gain custody and prove to be competent to raise Mokuba, despite his age. He always believed age didn't matter. But, now that this was thrown into his face, for the first time he found himself questioning it. Was he 'really' old enough to take care of Mokuba? The Seto of this world seemed to believe so, and look what happened. Could one of these realities also be his fate? What if just the right push causes 'him' to snap and end up in bed with Joey, or his own brother, or who the hell knows what? Maybe he'll wake up one morning sucking off Yugi.

Kaiba looked down, looking very tired suddenly. He turned away from Mokuba, saying, "Well, maybe I was wrong. Maybe you needed something more than I was."

"No, that's not true, Seto. We've always had each other and we never needed anyone else...you've said so yourself so many times." Mokuba said.

"I know, but...maybe I was wrong." Kaiba said, sadly.

"Don't say that! Seto, why are you trying to make love seem like a bad thing? Love is supposed to be a good thing, so how can it be bad?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba turned to him, saying, "When love is twisted and played to be something it's not...that's when it's bad. You're led to believe it's love, but it's really not."

"I know that it's love. You still think I'm too young to make that decision?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba slightly chuckled, but his laughter was directed at himself. "Mokuba, right now I'm 16 and I don't even understand about that kind of love. What makes you think you understand it?"

"Because I've had it and you haven't." Mokuba said proudly. Kaiba sighed...Mokuba got him on that one. He was a smart kid, after all. "Fine...I'm not going to argue on your maturity, but I will argue on your sanity."

"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked.

"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked.

"Come with me...I want to show you something."

Kaiba gave Mokuba a minute to get his pants on. He then took him by the hand and led him to the library. At the library, Kaiba began pulling out books, flipping to certain pages and then putting them down, saying, "I want you to read these sections."

Mokuba looked at them and scowled. "You think I'm crazy, now?"

Kaiba pointed at one book, saying, "This book explains displaced love, when they are deprived of certain parents...and that's merely in a divorce or the death of one parent. You can imagine the damage of losing both, growing up being raised by your own brother." He pointed at another book, saying, "This one also explains displaced love, a person will desperately cling to just about anything when dealing with an abusive childhood. This book points out how hostages or even rape cases can misplace fear for a dependent need towards their captors. This one explains the type of manipulations that a pedophile can use in order to gain the trust of their victims..."

"Stop it! I don't want to hear anymore!" Mokuba screamed out, covering his ears.

Kaiba went down to his knees to Mokuba's level, gently pulling his hands away and wiping his eyes. "Mokuba, I understand you genuinely believe you feel this way for him and truly think he feels the same. Tell me this, did he ever bring these books up to you, or mention anything about this?"

"No!" Mokuba said, defiantly.

"Well, if he had any belief in decency, he should have at the very least gone through all this with you, in considering these possibilities. It makes me really question how much he supposedly cares, as you say."

Before Mokuba started spouting off again, Kaiba put his hands up, saying, "All right, all right, I'm not going to say anything else about him. Obviously, it's getting us nowhere. But at least for the moment, just try and have an open mind on what I'm showing you. You're a smart kid, you're not stupid and you could be a grown-up and still have all of the problems I was showing you. Not only that, but there was a very high possibility that a person suffering from any of these things would not even be aware of it. Now, you know our past history. Are you trying to tell me that there's not the slightest chance that what I'm saying to you may not be possible? What if it is, Mokuba? Let's say you think you're in love and my self from this world blindly thinks the same...but in reality it's actually a disorder or a displacement of feelings. Then years go by, and you find all these feelings you thought you had for your brother are suddenly gone. Then what? I'll tell you what...you're stuck in an illegal affair with your blood brother, feeling too guilty to admit the truth, as he slowly corrupts you even more, causing you to feel greater shame and self-loathing. I am telling you, no...I'm begging you to both find someone to talk to about this matter, just to make sure it's not one of these conditions I've listed off to you. If it's truly genuine like you think it is, then talking to someone isn't going to hurt either of you."

"Yes it is! Who could we possibly trust to talk about this, without the risk of us losing everything!" Mokuba said.

"If you wanted help enough, my other self should have no problem finding it. Ask our doctor Thompson for a recommendation to talk to someone...someone you can trust. He has been with us ever since we were adopted...he knows what we've been through. At the very least, he'd sympathize enough not to do anything rash. Please, Mokuba...I'm worried about you..." Kaiba said.

Mokuba looked up, saying, "If I promise to talk to Seto about this, will you promise not to talk to anyone here about this?"

With a sigh, Kaiba reluctantly nodded, "I promise." He had considered doing something as desperate as talking to Yugi about the matter when he first found out, in order to make sure the Kaiba of this world did something to stop himself. But Mokuba was right...bringing personal issues between them to anyone else was normally not a good idea. But that didn't mean he couldn't still leave a nasty note to the Kaiba of this world, which he planned on doing, as well as make sure they get an appointment with someone, by setting it up himself.

Mokuba hugged him, saying, "Thank you, Seto." Kaiba hugged him back, yet Mokuba could feel a bit of reluctance this time. After the last couple of times of Mokuba touching him, he was beginning to be a bit leery, now. As Mokuba felt Kaiba's hesitation, he decided to say, "Seto...can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead." Kaiba answered, still awkwardly hugging him.

"You keep questioning me if I really think I love Seto that way. But, how do you know that you don't feel this way for me...or 'your' Mokuba?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba looked horrified at the question, immediately pulling away from him, making sure to remove all contact from Mokuba, in order to ensure he wasn't misunderstanding something. "Don't even ask me such a thing! I would never do that to Mokuba...'any' of them!"

But Mokuba approached as Kaiba pulled away, saying, "Maybe that's why you're really upset about this, cuz you're afraid after what we did that you might end up doing it, too. Are you sure you didn't like it when I kissed you? I noticed you paused a long time before you pushed me away..."

Kaiba's eyes twitched, as he snapped, "Of course, I hesitated! It wasn't something I ever expected my own brother to do to me!"

Kaiba was perhaps more flustered from Mokuba's accusation then he wanted to be. It showed just how much the question upset him. He realized it was fear he felt; because that much was true...he 'had' begun to question himself. After this whole event took place, how 'would' it affect him? Would he be afraid to have his Mokuba in bed with him, fear of unconsciously doing something wrong in his sleep, or maybe even not in his sleep? This Seto was supposed to be another version of him...there were aspects of him he was sure were very similar, maybe even close to the same. Could he end up like this? He could never dream of doing anything to hurt his Mokuba...but what if he did? This whole confrontation had left him second-guessing himself since he arrived.

"You didn't answer my question, Seto. Did you like it?" Mokuba asked.

"Of course I didn't!" Kaiba snapped.

Mokuba smiled, "Are you sure? I don't think you're sure. I don't think you allowed yourself to even dwell on that kiss long enough to know. Maybe you should let me try again and see for yourself."

Kaiba glared down at Mokuba, snapping, "You're little childish excuse might have worked on your brother, since he so desperately wanted it enough. But, it's not going to work on me...so forget it."

"You're the one who said you have no feelings for me that way, and any brother who does is a perverted sicko! Maybe you're just trying to avoid it, because you're afraid you'll realize you want this just as much as the Seto of this world!" Mokuba snapped at him.

Kaiba snapped back in rage, "That's not true! You take that back!"

"Then prove it!" Mokuba yelled.

"I am not going to willingly French kiss my own brother!" Kaiba yelled back.

Mokuba smiled, "But, I'm not your brother...remember? 'Your' Mokuba would never have to know the truth. Besides...if you don't do this, then I guarantee you you'll be wondering about this for the rest of your life if you have personal feelings for me."

'Could he be right?' He thought and then mentally shoved the thoughts away. 'No, I'm not going to second guess myself. It's not going to happen.' But he already was second-guessing himself. What if what Mokuba said was true and he had that stupid 'what-if' thought stuck in his head for the rest of his life?

As much as he didn't want to think about it, he actually attempted to draw back on Mokuba's first kiss, to tell if there was some aspect that liked it or not. But he realized quickly enough that Mokuba was right. All he could remember was the desperate need to pry him off, never allowing himself even a moment to figure out how he actually felt about it. He didn't feel anything good, but he couldn't tell if he was repulsed by it, either.

What if kissing him truly was the only way to find out, for sure? It wasn't really his Mokuba...maybe he should take the chance. 'No! What am I thinking? That's how this all started with the me from this world! What if kissing him causes this to happen?' But then, why would kissing him cause it, unless there was indeed something personally twisted inside him that wanted it? But if that was the case, did he really want to take the chance of letting such a part of him come out? Maybe doing this could result in him hurting his own brother later. Kaiba's head was reeling from the whole thing, this endless loop of self-question almost thrusting him into a brain lock between moral right and wrong.

Mokuba saw it and knew his brother well. He could probably dwell on this for the next hour before giving him an answer, which he was sure was going to be no. His brother was just too stubborn, sometimes. And like his brother, some things just need a push for it to happen.

So, Mokuba walked away from him. And while Kaiba stood there, thinking about it...Mokuba managed to get a chair, drag it over the plush rug of the library right in front of Kaiba, and climb up so he could reach his level. But, he realized it wasn't going to be tall enough, so he climbed back down, grabbed a few big heavy books, put them on the expensive leather chair and once again climbed on.

'Perfect!' He thought. Finally, in one fluid movement, Mokuba wrapped himself around his brother's neck and once again gave him a deep kiss, slipping his tongue into Kaiba's mouth. He knew even if Kaiba was right and didn't like it, he would still be responsive this time. The question led Kaiba to question himself too much. And if they were kissing anyway, he was sure to respond to Mokuba and kiss back this time, just to make sure...since he was so uncertain at the time.

Kaiba was finally thrust out of his mental calculations on the situation, when reality pointed out to him that Mokuba had somehow reached his height level and was kissing him again. He had no clue how Mokuba reached him, remembering him clearly in front of him at his normal height just an instant ago. How much time had passed while he was thinking about this, anyway?

His instincts screamed to pull away and run as far from this Mokuba as possible, but what Mokuba assumed would happen...did. The question in his head quickly pushed through, reminding him that this was the perfect opportunity to find for sure once and for all, so he wouldn't second guess himself any longer. Mokuba was kissing him anyway, so he might as well just finish it and get it over with, so this question could finally be answered. Regrettably...he allowed himself to kiss back, very slowly and carefully, every other aspect of his mind screaming what he was doing was wrong. After a moment, Kaiba finally got his answer...he was purely disgusted by what either of them were doing. There was absolutely no enjoyment in this.

Kaiba quickly pushed himself away from Mokuba and turned away, wiping his mouth. Mokuba watched him, as his brother tried to recover himself the best he could, before he finally gasped out, "You're wrong."

Mokuba smiled sadly, saying, "I already know. I could tell from what I was feeling from you...it wasn't the same as my Seto. When he kissed me, it felt good and I felt so happy inside. But when we both kissed like that, it didn't feel good at all. It felt...dirty."

Kaiba finally looked over at Mokuba, surprised by what he said. 'He could...feel a difference?' It made Kaiba wonder that maybe what Mokuba had been saying about him and Seto were in fact true, and they actually did love each other in that way. Either way, he was just glad he didn't feel anything good from that kiss...he was in fact relieved from his findings.

Mokuba then got down from his chair and books, that Kaiba had no idea how it even got there, and hugged him. Again, Seto hesitated from the hug, but Mokuba looked up, saying, "Don't worry, Seto. I won't do anything like that again. I understand, now. You really don't feel that way, except as a brother. I thought being who you are, you might feel the same. But, I was wrong. It won't happen again, I promise. Forgive me?"

Kaiba got down on his knees and offered a genuine smile, saying, "There's nothing to forgive. Maybe you did do me a favor by doing that. Thanks, kiddo...this whole world-jumping thing can really mess a person up." Kaiba now hugged him more securely, any fear or hesitation he had in doing that before finally melting away.

They eventually pulled apart, as Kaiba said, "Well, listen...why don't you clean this mess up you made in the library, then start on your usual routine. I'm going to go back to the office to look over this box and see if I can't figure out what patterns I've used already and maybe try and make it, this time." Kaiba said.

"Okay." Mokuba said, as Kaiba turned and slowly walked out the door. Mokuba then called back before he walked out, saying, "Good-bye, Seto...it was nice meeting you."

"See ya, kiddo." Kaiba said, and finally walked out.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba headed down the hall, going into his office. He locked the door and then made a call to Thompson, asking him to recommend a good psychiatrist for them both, despite everything that was said and done...someone the doctor could guarantee would be off the record and was trust-worthy. In no time, the number was given and Kaiba made an appointment for them both. He then wrote a very nasty threatening letter to the Kaiba of this world, questioning his love and supposed dedication to Mokuba, reciting many of the illnesses and phobias and planted it in an area that only Kaiba would find, which he'd have to hack into in order to get rid of it.

Kaiba then got up, and unlocked the door. Leaning against the door, he pulled out the box, but looked at its detail. After that moment with Mokuba, he was now certain that his interest in his own brother would never get like that. It was simply something to do with the Mokuba and Seto of this world, and for that he was relieved. Since he had been traveling in all these worlds, he was beginning to question himself. Perhaps all this information was getting to him. But now he pushed it aside, realizing just because things were the way they were in one universe, it didn't exactly mean he would be like that in 'his' world. He felt nothing but loathing from that kiss with Mokuba and that was a blessing in itself. But that thought drew his attention back to the horrifying time with Joey...

That was the first world he ended up at and nothing could prepare him to realize just how different these worlds were to his own. It was that confusion that led him to letting his guard down and ending up in bed with him, of all things. The most horrifying thing of all was in that world he didn't feel the same feeling of disgust he did here. He was trying to... he was desperately trying to. But even when he told Joey his revolution over what happened, he unconsciously new he was fooling himself.

So, what exactly did that mean? Did it mean that in the world he's from, his fate may in fact share the same fate from that first dimension? Did he have some unknown interest in Joey that way that he never allowed himself to see before? It frightened him just to think of the possibility. And worst would be if he did have this strange obsession for the Mutt, and then it also wasn't shared by the one of his world. That would make it even more humiliating than the idea of mere interest... some insane one-sided obsession for some low-life nobody; a weakness which that very stray dog could use against him.

Kaiba quickly shoved the thoughts away, finding it much more comfortable to return to his denial of any interest in Joey, despite what he felt, and continue with his mission. He refused to believe in any of it and ignore it all like a bad dream. He would simply keep going, find his destination and get his job over with. He had Mokuba to save and Noah to take care of. Then when he finally got back, he could forget all this madness and finally relax in his own reality, once again. He looked back down at the cube and then made the next adjustment on it, once again vanishing from another world...hoping the next one would be his true destination.


	25. C25 Gozaburo and SMK Corp

**Mokuba A/N:** The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C25 Gozaburo and SMK Corp.**_

Kaiba groggily looked around, though it was kind of hard seeing as it was pitch black with only the moonlight shining through. He felt something heavy on his chest as he looked down and sat up straight realizing it was Mokuba! Fear clutched his heart, thinking he was in a reality similar too the last one!

Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes, "What's up, big brother?"

It was then to Kaiba's great relief that he saw the boy had pajamas on. He started to hesitantly stroke Mokuba's hair. 'Well I guess I'm in a different reality... I hope.'

"What's wrong, Seto?" Mokuba asked, feeling the tension in his brother's features.

"Why-why are you in here?" Kaiba asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Don't you remember? You said that I could. When you came in to check on me, I told you I had a nightmare and asked if I could sleep with you tonight. Please Seto, don't make me go back to my room... the shadows will get me!" At this point, Mokuba was almost in tears from the nightmare he had earlier. Kaiba pulled him into a hug, without hesitation this time. Whatever horrible residuals Kaiba was feeling from the last dimension, by this time it quickly faded. Mokuba needed him...and that came first.

'Am I that horrible to him here, that he thinks I'd just send him back to his room simply because I told him I forgot I agreed?' Then he remembered what else Mokuba had said. 'Shadows?' Kaiba questioned as he noticed how terrified Mokuba was from the nightmare he had. It sounded to Kaiba like Mokuba was having another nightmare about the shadow realm, after being trapped in a card. This was no different from how his own Mokuba would react at times.

"No, no its okay. I just had a bad dream myself, kiddo." Kaiba told him rubbing his back. "It's all right if you stay here."

At least the last reality felt like a terrible nightmare to him. He still couldn't quite get that horrible experience out of his mind. Kaiba couldn't imagine why Mokuba would think he'd be so quick to send him back to his room, though. He could only assume it was Mokuba's panic and tiredness that caused him to over-react. But just incase, Kaiba still asked, "Mokuba, why would you think I'd send you back to your room, when I told you I forgot I agreed?"

"Well, this happened once before." Mokuba looked down, saying, "You know I get a lot of nightmares. You said I could stay with you, but then you were worried I'd keep you up, and you had a big meeting to go to. You just didn't want to chance it..."

Before Mokuba could question why he was having to explain things to his brother that he should already know, the door opened and much to Kaiba's great horror in walked Gozaburo!

"You boy's should be asleep. It's late and you have school tomorrow."

Instinctively, Kaiba released his hold on Mokuba, fearing his actions towards Mokuba would show a sign of weakness in front of his stepfather. Yet, one of his hands moved and automatically grabbed Mokuba's wrist instead, prepared to pull him away if need be, to protect Mokuba from Gozaburo. It appeared he left one nightmare just to end up in yet another nightmare. Was this another reenactment of Death-T, to torment him even more?

It was bad enough in that other reality, having to re-live Death-T all over again. The last thing he needed was to deal with Gozaburo a second time around. And if Gozaburo was alive, then he could only assume this was before Kaiba won the game of control over Kaiba Corp. Suddenly, it wasn't so surprising that Kaiba would toss Mokuba away so easily. The only times he allowed Mokuba in his room was behind their stepfather's back, when he felt his brother really needed him. Gozaburo never knew he was letting his brother in to be nice. Kaiba pretended to be mean to him all the time. But Kaiba didn't expect to be in the middle of one of these times. Now he was caught dead to right, which would mean there would be a punishment for his display of weakness towards his brother. Maybe worst...maybe Mokuba was in danger, now.

Immediately, Kaiba began to think of excuses to make up, as to why he was there together with Mokuba...why he looked like he was comforting his little brother, when he had convinced his stepfather that Mokuba meant nothing to him. 'But wait a minute.' Kaiba suddenly thought. He realized something was wrong. Gozaburo didn't glare at Mokuba for being here and his questions towards them somehow seemed...off. Plus...Kaiba didn't reduce in age any, like that other reality. He should be younger...smaller.

"Okay, Dad." Mokuba said, as Kaiba looked at him...not believing what he had just heard, as if Mokuba had just grown a second head.

'DAD?' Kaiba thought, horrified at the very word that spilled from Mokuba's mouth, as if his little brother had just spit on their real parent's grave. Besides, Gozaburo never accepted any other name from either of them, unless it was father or sir. 'What kind of twisted reality is this?' he wondered, as his grip on Mokuba's wrist tightened even more so, than it already was.

"Seto just had a bad dream...that's all." Mokuba explained to Gozaburo, as he glanced down at his brother's hand that was by now tightly gripping his wrist, like his life depended on it. Kaiba's face was pale and never took his eyes off of their stepfather. 'That must have been some bad dream he had.' Mokuba thought. Though the grip was uncomfortable, Mokuba didn't resist, feeling perhaps his brother needed this closeness right now, and didn't want to upset him further.

"Well, you boy's should try to get some rest. You still have that big investors meeting after school at SMK tomorrow, Seto. So, you need all the rest you can get. You don't need Mokuba keeping you up all night, once again." With that, he shut the door.

"SMK?" Kaiba questioned blankly, still unable to fathom what he had just witnessed. Only now after Gozaburo was safely out of the room, did he fully realize that it couldn't be like his past. Mokuba was the same age as 'his' Mokuba, which meant that in this timeline Gozaburo was still alive in the future. Never before had Kaiba seen a single caring feature from his stepfather's eyes before. It was so alien to see it, like it wasn't even him. It in fact frightened Kaiba even more than seeing his stepfather as the psychopathic lunatic he normally knew him to be.

Mokuba tiredly looked up and noticed the strange look on his brother's face. "Seto, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Kaiba said curtly, not wanting to upset his brother any.

"Are you sure?" Mokuba asked. "It's just...you're acting strange. It's almost like...you're not yourself." Mokuba added, tiredly.

Kaiba closed his eyes irritably from Mokuba's predictable conversation. After all, the only obvious answer would be for him to once again explain to someone why he was acting out of the ordinary, which would again involve telling someone he was not from this world. 'Not again...I can't do this! I am so sick and tired of having to explain myself.'

But Kaiba then realized that Mokuba was so tired, that perhaps he'd fall asleep before Kaiba would have to...or at least that's what he hoped. But as that thought hit his mind, it reminded him of his own weariness. All this traveling around had exhausted him and the emotional turmoil he went through from experiencing this other Gozaburo had taken the last remaining energy he had in him. Finally, realizing he had been gripping his brother's wrist, he quickly loosened it up and kissed his forehead. Kaiba then laid down next to him, realizing even with Gozaburo living here...this one for some reason did not threaten or punish him for his show of affection. So, he wrapped his arms around Mokuba once again and muttered, "Don't worry, Mokuba...we'll discuss it in the morning."

"Whatever you say, big brother." Mokuba mumbled, quickly falling asleep

Kaiba glanced over at his brother, as he began to fade. 'I knew he'd fall asleep.' He smiled and fell asleep, himself.

The next day, Kaiba got up at his early time and woke his brother up for school. After much thought, he decided he had to see what this reality was like. He simply couldn't fathom a 'nice' Gozaburo, and had to see it for himself. What possible changes could have occurred to make Gozaburo so different in this world? He was also curious what an SMK was...

They sat down to what had to be the strangest breakfast Kaiba had ever witnessed. Gozaburo actually seemed to pretend to be some kind of 'caring' father, which tempted Kaiba to almost laugh in his face, from what he took as the most disgustingly fakest act he had ever seen his stepfather perform. And yet, he noticed that Gozaburo took Kaiba's hostility towards him as normal. Obviously, the Kaiba of this time must not have hidden his contempt for him, either. Yet, it was so different from their normal 'family dinners'.

Kaiba remembers their meal times well. Normally, it consisted in a lot of mind games, screaming, fighting, occasionally trying to kill each other. Most of the time it resulted in Kaiba being dragged out by the guards and beaten until he was unconscious. This world consisted of Gozaburo spreading out the newspaper and reading it...pretty much ignoring them all. Occasionally, he would ask Kaiba something about business. When Kaiba gave him a snide remark, the conversation surprisingly ended. But his stepfather letting him win a conversation? Somehow, it didn't seem as fun.

Kaiba quickly shook the thoughts of the old game from his head, and focused on breakfast.

Finally, he was out of the house and heading towards school, looking forward to a little bit of normalcy. After the limo dropped Mokuba off, it headed for Domino High for Kaiba to be let off. The driver opened the door and let Kaiba out as he normally did, then Kaiba walked towards the front doors. But, as he reached the open doorway, he stopped.

For some reason, the teenage girls outside the school were gossiping as usual. But just like the first reality, they weren't trying to mob and attack him. It concerned him, since it reminded Kaiba of the other reality when he was attacked by Joey, and hoped that wasn't the same reason here. Kaiba glanced towards them, keeping his face a mask.

At first they didn't notice. But when they did, they didn't start screaming in hysterics, either. Instead, they started whispering and giggling even more than they had been, stealing sly glances at him every so often. Quickly turning away and pretending to act natural, he entered the school away from the strange-acting schoolgirls. He got to the classroom and spotted Yugi and his little group talking, and sighed in relief when he made it to his seat without them noticing him. He was beginning to worry when they did notice him and smiled, but they didn't get the chance to say anything as the teacher walked in.

After class was over, Joey walked over to him. "Hey, Seto...if you don't have much business work to do today, maybe you can sit with us."

He still didn't approve of others calling him by his first name, but by this time he was so tense from everything he had gone through, that Kaiba didn't bother to yell at him. He was still uncertain about what Joey was expecting from him...but continued to remain calm, never showing any outward sign of stress or concern.

"We'll see, Mutt." Kaiba originally decided to give his normal hostile retort, but Joey's actions led him to believe it was a common invite. And Kaiba was curious to see how they expected him to be in this world. He certainly wouldn't find out by avoiding them.

"Great. See ya then."

'At least the mutt seemed to be behaving', Kaiba thought, relieved that Joey didn't flirt or make a pass at him. But that didn't exactly explain why the girls outside didn't attack him, either.

The rest of the day went the same. The others would give a casual hello, but nothing more and there were still no explanations as to why no one in the school got tried to make a pass at him. At lunch, he didn't see the others, so he sat down at a table to eat. A few minutes later, they showed up and all joined him. His first instinct was to get up and leave. But he reminded himself that he wouldn't find out anything by avoiding them.

So, Kaiba remained seated, but was pleased to find the time was relatively uneventful. At the most, they had cornered him with questions about the SMK, which he simply answered much like he would for Kaiba Corp...meaning any updates he presently couldn't discuss.

And much to Kaiba's great relief, he had gone through all of school to realize there were no romantic involvement's with anyone from Yugi's little group. But before he could leave the school, Yugi came up to him...cornering him before he left his last class.

"Hey, Seto. Do you want to come over, after you've picked up Mokuba from school?"

"I have a meeting at SMK." Kaiba explained, keeping as short and to the point as possible. After all, the less he had to deal with the 'friendship group' the better.

"Oh. So, do you want us to pick up Mokuba for you?"

'He makes it sound like it's something he would normally do. As much as I hate being nice, I'll play along for now.'

Kaiba gave an immediate glare, as if even asking such a question was a crime in itself. But he quickly began to think that perhaps this was a normal thing for Yugi to do, so Kaiba chose not to tear him a new asshole and at least attempt to be civil. "I'm taking him with me." Kaiba replied evenly at him, stifling his attitude for what he thought was a ridiculous question. After all, Kaiba normally saved the pleasure of getting Mokuba only for himself.

But Mokuba was needed for more than just company this day. Kaiba also needed Mokuba there in order to explain to him details on this SMK. This way, he could use Mokuba to inform him the aspects of this meeting he was to go to. If Kaiba really wanted to, he could simply use the device and go...saving himself from any possible embarrassment. But, as tempted as he was to do so, he was simply too curious to leave just yet, and had to know more about it.

"Oh. So, it must be one of those executive meetings or something, then...right?"

"Something like that." Kaiba said.

As the limo went to Mokuba's school and waited for him, Kaiba did a little research on his own into SMK on his laptop. It was something he wanted to do earlier at school, but was too busy worrying about Yugi's group to actually do anything.

From what he could tell, it appeared Kaiba Corp was still up and running as a Weapons Factory, and SMK appeared to be a Gaming Corporation, like Kaiba Corp was in his reality. It looked like Gozaburo allowed him the freedom to choose what he wanted to do, instead of the torture he had to go through in his world. But Kaiba still couldn't figure out at the time what SMK stood for. Before Kaiba had the time to access anything further, Mokuba showed up.

Mokuba seemed no different from his own brother, all bright and shining and talking a mile, a minute about what happened at school that day. "So, how was your day at school?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba smiled "It was all right."

"And how was Yugi and the others?" Mokuba asked

Refusing to act any different from how he normally felt, Kaiba coldly answered, "Who cares?"

Mokuba glared at his brother, asking, "Were you at least nice to them?"

Kaiba continued to glare, now crossing his arms in defiance. At first Mokuba wasn't sure his brother would even answer, but finally he asked, "Define nice."

That was enough to give Mokuba his answer, and he immediately whined, "Seto, you promised you be friendlier to Yugi and the others. They're our friends, but you still treat them like the enemy at times."

'Well at least we're not the best of friends in this world.' Kaiba mused.

"Seto…"

"Fine. Then I'll try to do better in the future. Satisfied?"

"You'd better...I don't want you to lose the first people who seem to really want to be friends with us."

"Don't fool yourself, Mokuba. I don't care how friendly they seem to be...everyone wants something from you."

Mokuba just sighed. Kaiba inwardly grinned, pleased to see that he must outwardly behave the same towards Yugi's group in this world, as well. Kaiba then took a deep breath and began to explain to Mokuba 'once again' who he was and what his mission was.

"Really?" Mokuba questioned.

"Yes, I'm only here for a short time, then I've got to go."

"Wow! Sounds like it'd be cool to travel like that."

"Well...it has its downfalls. Believe me, it's not as fun as it sounds. So tell me, how is it that Gozaburo is permitting me a company of my own?"

"He doesn't allow it in your world?", Mokuba asked.

Kaiba shook his head, while urging for Mokuba to explain.

"Well, he doesn't like it after, in his words 'all the time he spent training you,' you decided you wanted no part of a weapons company. Then last year when he told you he wanted to make you vice president of Kaiba Corp, you turned him down saying you wanted to make your own company that would be a gaming company. He wasn't happy with you, and tried to have me talk you into it. But when he did, I told him I agreed with you. So he helped you start up SMK Corp."

"As if I'd ever need help from 'him'." Kaiba hissed in scorn, only causing Mokuba to roll his eyes, expectedly. "So, what do the initials stand for?" Kaiba asked.

"Well you said you didn't want the KC label on there because you didn't want to be associated with Kaiba Corp. But since Dad - I mean Gozaburo owns 35, you own 30 and you gave me 5...that left the other 30 for investors. So, it was decided to name it SMK, for Seto Mokuba Kaiba. You know, maybe we should tell Dad about you're situation, and he can take over the meeting of the investors."

"Stop calling him Dad!" Kaiba finally snapped, unable to deal with hearing such distasteful words coming out of Mokuba's mouth. "He is our stepfather, 'not' our father. That monster doesn't deserve to be called father, by any meaning of the word!"

Mokuba looked like he was about to argue with his brother, but decided it wasn't worth it and simply dropped his head, saying, "Yes, Seto...I'm sorry."

Kaiba was barely keeping himself in control at the moment, still thinking about how Mokuba said he wasted Gozaburo's 'training'. 'What kind of training did you subject me to in this world, old man?' he thought. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it wasn't nearly as harsh. Just the thought that Gozaburo bended and giving-in to allowing him a company of his own sounded so unlike the mad man he knew.

But the thought that he didn't rid Gozaburo off the face of the planet, along with the weapons industry that was still alive, unnerved him. Just the idea that in this timeline he didn't stop him and the blood that stained his hands even more because of it...it tempted Kaiba to take over this world right now, create another Death-T and this time stick his stepfather into it, in order to show him the meaning of gaming in its extreme!

For Mokuba's sake, Kaiba forced himself out of his present thinking in order to answer Mokuba's comment, saying, "Anyway, that wont be necessary. I can handle it."

"But, Seto…"

"There is no way I am going to allow that lunatic to come 'near' my corporation! I don't need his pathetic help to run my own business. Our lives are tainted enough having to even live with someone who bombs and kills people for a living. He is not stepping foot into my company, if I have anything to say about it. He doesn't need to know anything about this, anyway. I have more than enough experience with running of business of my own. I'm sure there can't be anything more pressing than what I deal with on an everyday basis."

Mokuba blinked, "But, you said Dad...I mean Gozaburo, didn't let you run a company of your own."

At that comment, a strangely dark grin appeared on Kaiba's face that even Mokuba didn't recognize seeing on his brother's face before. Kaiba coldly answered, "You're right. Instead...I took his."

"Really?" Mokuba blinked, shocked from his brother's response. How was it possible?

"As you said...I wanted a gaming corporation, so I got myself a gaming corporation." Kaiba sneered, barely able to stifle the mad laughter tempted to come out at that moment. After all...he didn't want to scare his brother, even if it wasn't 'his' Mokuba.

Mokuba was strangely quiet from Kaiba's comment. Mokuba thought it was cool that he managed to turn Kaiba Corp into a gaming company. But to have somehow wrestled it from their stepfather? And if that was the case, then what happened to Gozaburo in his world? Mokuba had a feeling he didn't want to know the answer to either of those questions, especially after the strange coldness that came over his brother when it changed to this particular subject.

Since Mokuba became strangely quiet afterwards, Kaiba decided now was a good time for a subject change. "I was curious about something. I noticed the girls at the high school seemed to act a bit...strange around me. Do you know anything about this?"

"Well, that's probably because of Miranda." Mokuba replied.

"Who's Miranda?"

"She's Pegasus' niece, and dad thought it'd be good if you two started going out. You didn't like it but you two seem to hit it off. I know dad, uh...step dad's hoping you two will eventually get married…"

"Married?"

Mokuba giggled, "Yeah, but I don't think that's going to happen. I mean you two always seem to have a nice time together. But most of the time, you insist on my coming along so you don't have to be alone with her. She feels the same way, cause a time or two when I've been at a friend's house; you said she insisted I come along. You always tell me that whenever the two of you are forced to go alone, you always end up arguing. You also said that she's only good for keeping the girls at your school at bay. But lately even though dad and Pegasus are basically planning the wedding, the two of you have no intentions of going through with it. In fact, she met a guy at the collage she goes to, and she really likes him. But his father owns a funeral home."

"You seem to know a lot about her."

"I told you, you guys insist I come along and she likes to talk! Recently, her boyfriend is all she talks about, but her uncle doesn't approve of him. He'd rather merge SMK Corp with Industrial Illusions. Pegasus has been her guardian since her parents died in a boating accident a couple of years ago. Since then, she's been living mostly in a boarding school."

"I still don't understand what could have cause Gozaburo to be nice! What's different about this reality that caused the change?"

"Nice? I don't understand, Seto. Is he really mean in your world?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba glared down at his brother, weighing his options. He didn't want to frighten Mokuba on the way Gozaburo could really be, when he wanted to. Even when he had to endure everything from his stepfather, he did his best to keep those things from his brother so Mokuba wouldn't know about it. But still deep down, he had a feeling his brother knew anyway. After a long pause, Kaiba finally answered simply, "I suppose. Let's just say he's not the same that he is in this world."

"Oh..." Mokuba said, worried about how bad his stepfather was. But from the way his brother was acting, Mokuba knew he wouldn't add to his explanation. Thinking about any time that Gozaburo had become mean at all, Mokuba suddenly looked back up and replied, "Well, he sometimes gets majorly depressed and mean, around Noah's birthday."

Kaiba's eyes widened at Mokuba mentioning Noah. True, Kaiba had mentioned having to stop Noah during his explanation to Mokuba on what his mission was. But he didn't think Mokuba would actually know who Noah was in this world. Kaiba immediately asked, "You mean Noah's alive?"

"What are you talking about, Seto? Of course Noah's alive. From what I learned just a few months before, we were adopted Gozaburo and his wife divorced, and she took off to America with Noah."

"Hmph. Perhaps in my reality, Noah's death had been what took Gozaburo's sanity over the edge. And in this world, since Noah never died...he remained sane. That could have been it." Kaiba said, trying to understand the mind of mad man he once called his stepfather.

'Hmph, and he had the nerve to accuse me of being weak for caring about Mokuba.' Kaiba thought, even more pissed off over Gozaburo's hypocrisy then he was at the abuse he endured. 'Who's the weak one now, stepfather?' Kaiba was at least happy to see even if Gozaburo was sane in his timeline; he probably would have hated Gozaburo no matter what. Kaiba wasn't sure he could handle it if he found that he actually learned to 'care' for the man...that would have been too much to take. As it was, Kaiba was still struggling with the idea that Mokuba seemed to so openly accept the monster as his own father.

As they were talking, it didn't take long before they arrived at SMK. Kaiba was determined to not only get these investors to back him but get Gozaburo out of his company once and for all! In fact, if Kaiba had enough time in this world, he'd be 1/2 tempted to throw this Gozaburo out of the top story window of Kaiba Corp, himself.

Despite Mokuba's protest, Kaiba walked boldly into the meeting, taking charge like it was Kaiba Corp back in his world. Before the meeting and the day were through, Kaiba got his wish. Well...that is, he was able to not only get those investors to back him, but was able to get a few more investors and take out Gozaburo's portion. Even though he'd probably be unable to send his stepfather 10' under, he'd at least get rid of his stench from SMK.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After the meeting, Gozaburo had approached Kaiba about what happened at the meeting.

"Well, Seto...I have to admit, I'm impressed. I didn't think you had it in you." Gozaburo said.

Kaiba just glared at him and left for his office. "Mokuba, come with me."

Mokuba didn't argue, and willingly followed. Once inside Kaiba's office, Mokuba bounded in cheering, "That was so cool, big brother!"

Kaiba ruffled Mokuba's hair, trying to stay affectionate, despite the cold chill going through him from having to see his stepfather alive and near either of them. "I refuse to be under that man's thumb, or anyone's for that matter. From now on, SMK will be under 'our' rule only."

"So, how long are you staying in this world, Seto?"

"I'd love to stay longer, but I really need to get going." Kaiba was actually hesitant to say that to Mokuba. He didn't trust Gozaburo, despite his pretense of being 'nice'. As long as Gozaburo was alive, Kaiba saw him as a threat to his brother. But then he was at least at ease enough to know that the Kaiba of this world didn't trust him, either...and felt he would help keep Mokuba safe.

Who knows, maybe in time Gozaburo may still end up flying from that 50-story window, after all. Time would only tell. And though it might take longer for such a possibility to happen here, perhaps this world would allow Kaiba to keep enough of his soul so that Mokuba was not the one to pay in the end.

"Oh. I wish you could stay. I'd love for you to tell me about some of the realities you've been to."

The comment from Mokuba caused Kaiba to involuntarily shudder at the thought of those other realities he had been at. Not wanting to sound suspicious, Kaiba forced himself to not sound over anxious, as he said calmly, "Sorry, kiddo...but I have to go."

He quickly activated the box, disappearing into a new reality, before Mokuba could try and question him more.


	26. C26 Forget the risk I need to get home!

A/N: Back to reality! Due to tomorrow being Thanksgiving I'm giving you the chapter a day early! Happy Thanksgiving!

New Note, Clarity and I want to a Christmas story! But to do that mean that we won't have time to do both. We can't finish this and do that one before Christmas! So till after we finish the new story this story will be temporarily put on hold.

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_**C26 Forget the risk I need to get home!!**_

Back in Kaiba's world, Joey came dragging in.

"Joey, I thought you'd be a work all day." Yugi said.

"Yeah, well it was one of them freak rain storms. It hit and they closed the park." Joey said.

"But it's a clear blue sky out there." Tea said.

"Yeah, not a drop of rain in sight." Tristan said.

Joey growled, and pointed at his head, "What, you think I got soaked like dis from nutt'n? Maybe I just threw a bucket of water over my head for kicks!"

Both Tristan and Tea nodded from the idea, as Tristan muttered, "That sounds like you..."

"Oh, yea??" Joey said, as him and Tristan started to fight yet again. "Well, maybe I should throw one over 'your' head!"

"So, how's it going over there?" Yugi asked, ignoring the usual wrestling match.

That got them both to stop fighting for the moment, as Joey drooped his head like a beaten pup. "I am telling you Kaiba is taking way too much pleasure in torturing me."

Tristan smiled and slapped Joey on the back, saying, "Well, you know what they say...no pain no gain." Joey just growled at him more, as the others giggled.

Joey turned to Angie then, saying, "I feel for you, Ang. I don't see how you're going to survive living with the guy."

"Yeah, I know. I'm a little worried myself." Angie said, though her concerns were totally different than Joey, remembering how he was always reacting so strangely around her.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the alternate world, the gang was beginning to get a little concerned about Noah's security.

"Why do you think Noah's goons are following us?" Tea asked.

"I'm guessing they want to prevent us from attempting to save Mokuba or finding Seto!" Tristan said.

"We can't let them stop us...we have to find Seto!" Yugi said.

"I just hope Mokie will be okay till then." Angie said.

"Stop worrying, Angie...he's a brave kid. He'll be fine." Tea said.

"Yeah...if he could survive that hell hole this long, he'll survive it till Seto is found." Joey said.

"I hope so." Angie said, unable to stop worrying about her new brother, while still feeling slightly responsible.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

While Kaiba's been traveling dimensions, Seto's been pacing the floor ever since he left.

"Seto, would you please calm down? You're pacing is giving me a headache, and your occasional rants are bound to wake up Mokuba." Aiko said.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it! Mokie is my responsibility and Kaiba was right."

"About…"

"I told I tried my best, I tried all I could to free him. But...that's not really true." Seto sighed. "Kaiba was right. If I didn't let my pride get in the way, if I didn't just assume I'd get better, if I worked and trained harder, if I didn't let my fear of Noah step in the way at times...then maybe Mokie wouldn't be in the mess he is now! And I never even thought of looking into Mokie's past. If I even tried to do that, then he might have been away from there! But...I didn't do any of that. I sat back and played games with my friends and family, enjoyed my life while he was being beaten and who knows what else that he's never told me! He's never known what it's like to have a real family and friends to be free to see, to say what you want, when you want! Don't you get it? It's MY fault that he's lived like that!"

"Seto…"

"No, Aiko...nothing you can say will change my mind! I can't let him down! I can't let Kaiba deal with Noah, when it should be me! He did something that I should have done years ago, and that's to free Mokuba! I wont allow him to continue to do my job for me!"

"So, what exactly do you plan to do?"

"I want you to find him!"

"What?"

"Look, Aiko...whether he's in my world or not, we need to know! He's obviously not going to tell us when he gets there. You know Kaiba! He'll just deal with Noah himself, and then tell us! I want to know, and I want to do something about it!" Seto exclaimed.

"But I can't leave. What about Mokuba?"

"All you have to do is write down the times he needs his medicine, and put them on the table. I'll make sure he gets it."

"Well…I don't know if that's a good idea. He's going to be mad." Aiko stated.

"I'll take responsibility from the fallout that comes from this...don't worry."

"Very well." Aiko said. "If you insist." Aiko then quickly wrote a list, and put it and Mokuba's medicine on the table. She then disappeared to find Kaiba.

After Aiko left, Seto felt a little better for the moment, and sat on the couch, thinking about the differences between Kaiba and himself...how strangely different their histories had made them. 'Could I have really been him, if I didn't have my parents and ended up here?' he wondered. He wasn't sure if he should hate the guy, or pity him. There's so much he didn't like about the guy, and yet...he obviously had what he lacked in. The ability to protect Mokuba.

Seto dropped his head, unable to shake the feeling of what a failure he's been. 'It's not fair. How was he able to defeat Noah, when I couldn't? If we're the same...I should be able to be that good.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After another hour past and still no word from Kaiba or Aiko, Seto had grown impatient.

'What's taking so long?' he thought, pacing yet again and quickly digging a hole in the carpet. He couldn't stand it anymore...he couldn't sit still and just wait, knowing somewhere out there Mokie was in danger. So, Seto made a decision.

Seto went over to the couch where Mokuba was sleeping, and gently nudged him. "Mokuba...it's time to get up."

Mokuba sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Not more medicine..." he groaned.

"No...that's not it. I need to go to Yugi's. I sent Aiko on a mission, and I can't leave you here alone."

"What kind of mission?"

"I'm worried about your brother, and I sent her to check up on him."

Mokuba smiled. "You don't need to worry about my big brother. He'll be fine...he can handle it."

"Well, I'm glad you have faith in him. But I just can't sit around, while another version of you is out there and still in danger. I know Yami can do it if he tries, so I need you to get dressed so that we can go talk to him."

"Seto won't be happy when he finds out I left the house." Mokuba smiled. It was one more thing he could blame Seto for, so he couldn't get in trouble for doing it.

"Well, I'm not too crazy about it, either. He was right...you need to stay and rest. But this is the only way for me to get back and help Mokie."

Mokuba yawned, "Okay, I'll get dressed. But, I wouldn't want to be you when Seto finds out." If this Seto had even a fraction of the stubbornness that his brother had, then he saw no sense in arguing with him.

'Sadly enough, the kid's right. I don't want to be in the same room when he finds out.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After Mokuba was ready to go, he went to his brother's closet and got out one of his old worn out dark blue trench coats.

"Why Seto keeps these when they're so worn out is beyond me." Mokuba said, taking the coat downstairs and handing it to Seto.

"Here...you'd better put this on. We don't need anyone seeing you and asking too many questions."

"My outfit's not that bad." Seto said, trying to hand the coat back to Mokuba.

"Uh, yeah...it is. Besides, Seto has a reputation to maintain and, well...he's already going to be mad enough as it is, that we left the house. If he finds out that anyone saw you like this anymore than they already have, he's not going to be happy."

"Fine, I'll wear it." Seto said, putting it on.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They then headed out to Yugi's. Mokuba ordered the limo driver to take them there.

On the way, Seto was nervous and fidgeting. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to Yami, to convince him to help. But, it didn't take long before they made it. They walked in to find Yugi and Joey talking at the counter. At first glance, Seto could see the uncertain look in Yugi's eyes, and an almost hostile glare from Joey. Seto immediately realized sadly, that their first reaction to him was because they thought he was Seto Kaiba, not Seto Yagakamiya.

Seto immediately rectified the situation, by offering a casual smile and a wave, saying, "Hey, Yugi...Joey." as he walked up to them.

"Oh, you're that other Seto!" Yugi cheerfully said, now realizing.

Joey also quickly caught on, asked him, "Uh, yeah. What exactly do we call you?"

"You can call me Seto."

"So, what are you doing here?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, and why did you bring Mokuba?" Yugi asked.

"Oh. Well, I sent Aiko to look for Mokuba's brother and I couldn't leave him alone."

"Why, is Kaiba missing?" Joey asked.

Yugi suddenly looked concerned, asking, "Did something happen to him?"

Seto looked around, saying "Well...you got some place we can just sit and talk? I'd like to make sure Mokuba has a place to lay and rest, if I could."

"Oh, of course!" Yugi said, noticing Mokuba was looking very tired and rubbing his eyes. "Please, come in. Mokuba...I have a spare room upstairs, if that's okay with you."

Mokuba shook his head. "That's okay. I'll just stay down here with Seto, if I could."

Yugi directed them into the next room, which was the living room. He then said, "Well, we have a couch you can lay down on."

"Thanks, Yugi." Mokuba smiled and laid down on it.

Seto took the trench coat off, and draped it over Mokuba. Everyone else made themselves at home, finding a seat to sit on. Yugi was first to ask, "So, what's going on?"

"Yugi...I need Yami to try and send me home." Seto said. "I know he doesn't think he can do it, but I'm willing to take the risk. Please, I need to get back and help Mokuba over there!"

"But, what happened to Kaiba?" Joey asked. "You said he was missing or something."

"Well...Aiko had no idea how to send me back. So, she made this device to travel the different worlds, and Kaiba grabbed it and used it, instead of letting me do it!"

"Why the hell would Kaiba do something like that?" Tristan asked.

Joey quickly answered, "Cuz he's Kaiba...and he's a stubborn prick!"

Tristan nodded, "Oh, yeah...I almost forgot."

"Well, it's been quite a while, so I asked Aiko to go look for him. But, now even she hasn't return. I can't just sit around waiting that hopefully one of them 'might' show up to help Mokie out...I gotta go back there!" Seto exclaimed.

"Something's wrong with Mokuba over there?" Yugi asked.

"When Kaiba was in my world before, I guess he saved Mokuba from Noah. But, now no one's there to protect him, and Noah's going to want revenge. There's no way he's going to take this laying down! That's why I need to get back there!" Seto said.

Yugi nodded. "I see. I can understand your concern and need to get back to your little brother. But, the chances of Yami sending you back are just too slim. If you appear in some other random world, that's not going to allow you to do anything for him. Then you'd be lost in another world, and someone would have to save you, too."

"That's not going to happen." Seto said, determined. "At least in my world, you and Yami always said that we should trust in our friendship. Well, I believe in Yami, and that he can do this...even if he doesn't believe in himself."

"Then, why can't you believe in Kaiba?" Yugi asked. "Kaiba is strong...he knows what he's doing. I'm sure he'll reach Mokuba and be able to help him."

"I can't let him do that!!" Seto stated, surprising them all.

Seto looked down at the ground, saying, "Don't you understand? Kaiba all ready saved Mokuba...'my' Mokuba once from Noah. I've been trying all my life to defeat Noah, and in one visit he takes him out, and with my own deck, nonetheless! He told me I'm a failure...and he's right."

"Hey, man...don't put yourself down like that. You kick ass." Joey said, having trouble seeing someone that looks like Kaiba even act so deflated.

Seto shook his head. "You're just thinking of that other me. But, don't you see? If I let him save Mokuba, then I'll never be able to prove to myself that I'm worthy of being that kid's brother. I've got to do this! I screwed up too many times, all ready. I can't let him fight my battles for me! I got to do this on my own!"

At these words, the Millennium Puzzle came to life, and Yami came out.

Yami gave him a nod of respect. "Very well...I'll do what I can to try and help send you to your brother. Keep in mind, I can't guarantee it will work."

"Thank you." Seto smiled, giving a slight nod of thanks.

Yami then started concentrating on the puzzle and it started to glow. "Now, touch the puzzle."

"All right." Seto said reaching out and touching the puzzle.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared, blinding everyone in the room. Then when the light finally faded, Seto was gone. Yet, there was another Kaiba that was standing there in his place...and this one looked even more like the Kaiba they knew. The only main difference was now he was wearing a very unique white trench coat that they never saw him in before. And Kaiba looked rather confused.

Everyone blinked at him, not sure what to think, either.

Joey was the first to speak up, saying, "Well, I guess that sent Seto away 'and' we got Kaiba back at the same time!"

Yet, Yami had a bad feeling that wasn't exactly what happened.

Kaiba looked suspicious, and his attention first went to Joey. He looked to him, and questioned, "Joey?" waiting for him to explain his reason for being here.

Now the group looked even more surprised. Everyone knew that Kaiba never called Joey by his first name.

Joey blinked at him, not sure what to say or think, totally dumbfounded over what happened. He then finally shook his head, being first to spit out, "Oh, boy...we definitely have a problem here!"


	27. C27 I think we’ve got a problem!

**Mokuba A/N: **Sorry for the long delay. But Clarity was sick for a while and now we're finally getting on track. Hope everyone had a nice Holiday. We'll restart back at Thursday starting this week. I meant to this week but it sorta slipped my mind, sorry.

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**Mokuba A/N: **Okay from here on out it's going to get complicated. So here's a small guide like to help. Remember it, you'll need it!

C11: Joey: **JKaiba **

C14: Sacrifice: **KaibaS1 & MKaiba **

C17: Opposites: **OSeto **

C19: Heart: **Kaiba2 **

C20: Grave: **GSeto **

C21: DeathT: **DTKaiba **

C22: Virtual World: **VWKaiba **

C24: Morality: **MEKaiba **

C25: SMK: **SMKaiba **

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**_C27 I think we've got a problem! _**

"Would someone like to explain what I'm doing here?" JKaiba asked irritably, his focus immediately directed towards Yugi. After all, anytime something strange happened, Yugi always seemed to be the center of it.

And Joey, in all his brilliance, decided to ask the most intelligent question ever, as he pointed at JKaiba, saying, "Are you 'you'?"

JKaiba gave him an 'are you really that stupid?' glare, as Tristan muttered, "Oh, yeah...good question, genius."

"Hey, I'm trying ta figure this out too, okay??" Joey snapped back at Tristan.

Angie then turned to Yami, saying, "Yugi, why is his coat different? This isn't the same guy, is it?"

"Different?" Tea muttered. "A minute ago...he didn't even have a coat. He gave it to Mokuba."

"Yeah, but maybe this is the Kaiba that's supposed to be here, right?" Angie asked.

Tristan put his hand to his chin in an attempt to look intelligent. "Well, if he was wandering around different worlds like the other Seto guy said, then maybe he got a change of clothes along the way."

"Why do you think I was asking that question in the first place?" Joey exclaimed, still insisting his question wasn't in the least bit dumb.

JKaiba had no idea what was going on, and why they were talking about him like there was more than one of him. But he really didn't care at the moment. His brother was mentioned...and that came first. "Where's Mokuba?" he asked, his focus at the moment was on Joey.

"He's right there." Joey said, pointing behind him.

JKaiba turned to see one of his older trench coats draped around his brother, who was sleeping peacefully. But there was something disturbing about it, too. Mokuba's face looked slightly flushed, for some reason.

He approached his sleeping brother, and quickly checked his head, noticing it was slightly warm. 'He's sick.' JKaiba quickly realized.

"Why is he here?" JKaiba asked to anyone who was behind him, growing irritated that his now sick brother was over at Yugi's, and he somehow materialized here, with no explanation about it, yet.

"Cause he fell asleep, while you...or I'm guessing 'another' you told his story." Tea said.

JKaiba stood, and turned facing the group, not looking in the least bit pleased. "If this is supposed to be some sort of joke...I'm not amused."

"It's not a joke, Kaiba." Yugi said, once again taking over for Yami. "There was another you here, and he needed to get back home. Umm...you don't remember this other you?"

JKaiba smirked, amused for the moment. "The only one I know with split personalities, Yugi...is you."

Joey immediately jumped in front, snapping, "Yugi don't have no split personality! Just cuz yer too dense to get it, don't mean you can pick on my friends! How the hell do ya think you got here, anyway??"

The smirk immediately turned into a cold grin, as he snatched Joey and pulled him close, murmuring softly, "Perhaps you'd like to explain to me, mutt."

"Kaiba, leave Joey alone!" Angie exclaimed, assuming Kaiba was simply picking on Joey again. "Haven't you done enough to him?"

JKaiba glanced her way, like she was nothing. It was the first time she'd seen Kaiba look at her this coldly before. He hesitated as he looked her over, then finally focused back on Joey, not finding her even worth the attention. "So...you're little groupies have gained another fan member, I see." JKaiba said to Joey. "Not enough in the friendship cult, yet?"

Joey blinked. "Uh...but, you know Angie, don't you? How can you not remember Angie? She's your new baby-sitter!"

JKaiba scowled at Joey, assuming it was insult directed towards him. "The only one that needs baby-sitting, mutt...is you. But then, I'd simply call the pound."

"He means for Mokuba..." Yugi said, attempting to keep the peace.

Again, JKaiba's attention was directed from Joey, now glancing at Yugi...the expression on his face looked almost confused. "Why, because he's sick? I'd simply hire a nurse's aid for that. Do you think I would insult my brother by hiring someone that cares for infants, to watch over him? I doubt the Vice President of Kaiba Corp needs such dependencies."

Everyone blinked in confusion from JKaiba's comment. Tristan then pointed at Mokuba, saying, "You mean your brother? You made him Vice President? Since when??"

That only seemed to get a scowl from JKaiba, for daring to ask such a stupid question.

"Will you let go of me, already?" Joey then suddenly snapped at JKaiba, who was still grabbing onto his collar.

Angie then said to Joey, "Joey, keep it down...you're going to wake poor Mokuba!"

Too late. Mokuba stirred from the noise, and began to wake up. He opened his eyes seeing JKaiba and smiled. "Big brother...are you back all ready?"

JKaiba finally released Joey, turning his full attention to Mokuba. He was still confused about a few things, especially when his brother became sick. And it certainly didn't help that Yugi's friends were rambling a bunch of nonsense he didn't understand. But that wasn't anything too out of the ordinary. Somehow things that he saw as common sense always seemed off the wall for them and vise versa. They were simply too different, and JKaiba tried to accept it as such.

But that didn't explain why Mokuba was sick. Mokuba hadn't been sick, at all. Did this just come on? "How long have you been this way?"

Mokuba replied, "I'm not any worst, Seto. I'm just as I was when you saw me. And it's not my fault I'm here! The other Seto brought me here...it's his fault!"

Mokuba was automatically assuming his brother was getting ready to chastise him for being at Yugi's. Why else would he ask such a question? But from the strange look on JKaiba's face, the odd sensation in Mokuba that something was wrong finally kicked in. He didn't notice it before, because he was so tired...but now he understood. This wasn't his brother, either. 'Well, that explains why he has that weird coat. But...where did he come from? What did I miss while I was asleep?'

"Mokuba's been sick for the past couple of weeks. Don't you remember?" Tea asked from behind him.

"He's hasn't been sick." JKaiba retorted irritably, as he brought his hand down and brushed his brother's bangs back from his forehead.

JKaiba then finally turned back to address the group. His main attention was now on Yugi, as he stated, "Enough of these games...I want to know what's going on. My brother wasn't sick at all, especially not for a few weeks."

JKaiba next approached Yugi, towering over him with his contempt, and seeming to be throwing all the blame on him at the moment. "I want answers Yugi, and I want them now! How did Joey, Mokuba and myself end up instantly over here, after being at our home? And what is this 'other me' you seem to be speaking of? Anyone who attempts to toy with me, will pay dearly...even you."

'Uh-oh.' Mokuba thought, beginning to look a little more awake and sensing the rising tension in JKaiba. He knew if someone didn't explain some things to him soon, there was going to be trouble. Even if it wasn't his brother, he wasn't much different from him when he got angry.

But before Yugi could even say anything, Joey immediately jumped in front of JKaiba, snapping, "What do you mean 'our' home??" totally confused by JKaiba's wording... which Mokuba also felt was strange, now that it was brought up.

JKaiba glanced over at him, curious from Joey's odd behavior. "What do you think I mean?" he simply asked back.

"How the hell should I know???" Joey asked back, exasperated.

JKaiba now turned to Joey, observing him curiously, as he crossed his arms and smirked, saying, "You should know exactly what I mean...despite your lack of intelligence."

"Um...no, I don't." Joey answered. Then a heart beat later, he growled, "What do you mean 'lack of intelligence'??"

JKaiba then approached Joey, his hand moving up and gently touching Joey's face, causing everyone to freeze up from JKaiba's odd actions, especially Joey. He rubbed his cheek almost tenderly, stating calmly, "I don't have time right now, pup. If you want to be the one to bring me up to date, then that's fine. But one way or another, I'm going to get answers."

Joey swallowed nervously, not sure how to react to JKaiba from these strange actions. This wasn't the way Kaiba normally treated him. He was used to the fights they had...it was a more comfortable level he could relate to. This weird niceness from JKaiba was simply too strange. Joey nervously answered, "Uh...I - I...I dunno nutt'n." his brain too confused from JKaiba to remember what the question even was, anymore.

A hint of a smile formed on JKaiba, who seemed to appreciate Joey's nervousness around him. Then before Joey had a chance to react further, he brought his hand up and touched Joey's chin, moving Joey's face up towards his own. JKaiba then leaned in and kissed him.

Joey had kissed a couple of girls before, but this was new. He was too much in shock to do anything at first, and before he could come to his full senses, JKaiba had all ready pulled away.

JKaiba then calmly said to him, "Then shut up and let me finish." and turned back to Yugi, as if there was absolutely nothing unusual over what just happened.

But Joey had no intention of pretending nothing happened, as he suddenly freaked, backing away from him and yelling, "What the hell did you do that for??? Are you nuts??"

"Interesting choice of words." JKaiba calmly muttered, his attention now too focused on Yugi to care what Joey's problem was. But he noticed Joey wasn't the only one that seemed to be responding to his action. Yugi's mouth was hanging open, like a big fish. In fact...just about everyone was looking at him that way. The deafening silence from what happened also left a tension in the air that a person could swim in.

JKaiba glanced at the others in the room, a frown forming on his face from their reactions. He then finally glanced back at Joey and realized he was dead serious about this. So, JKaiba focused back on Joey and stared him down, silently waiting for an explanation from his boyfriend for this unusual behavior.

At the moment both stared at each other in stunned silence, JKaiba waiting and Joey having no idea what to say to the other. JKaiba then began to finally understand Joey had no intention on saying anything, causing his anger to rise. He had no idea why anyone was acting this way. This wasn't any surprise...they've been together for some time, now. Why did it seem like everyone had forgotten?

"What is the problem?" JKaiba finally asked Joey, expressing the hint of irritation he felt about this.

"What do you mean, 'what is the problem'??" Joey asked. "I dunno about you...but as far as I know, it aint normal fer a guy to go around kissing another guy like that!"

JKaiba's eyes widened from Joey's declaration. Joey was acting like he was some kind of 'gay-phobic', which didn't make sense since they were an official couple. But there was no hint of a joke in Joey's eyes, no spark of warmth. It left JKaiba feeling strangely uncertain and alone in his opinion, with a stab of pain that Joey may have no feelings towards him.

"We've been together for nearly a year. We've been sleeping together." JKaiba stated, his eyes becoming dangerous slits. "Don't you dare claim you don't remember any of this!" he hissed, with a frightening calm to his voice...more like the calm before the storm.

"Okay, this is totally weird! If this keeps up, we're going to have to sue Kaiba for the money to see a therapist." Tea said, not noticing the warning signs. Fortunately, JKaiba was too concerned with Joey to listen or even care about Tea's opinion, at the moment.

"I...wouldn't go that far." Tristan replied to Tea, attempting to make light of the whole situation and failing miserably.

"Well, I would!" Joey stupidly blurted out. "The dude just kissed me! How is that 'not' a bad thing??" He then snarled at JKaiba, pointing his finger at him. "And you got some nerve trying ta tell my friends we been sleeping together! You take that back! I got a reputation to uphold, after all..."

Obviously, Joey wasn't taking this seriously, either...and also didn't see the dangerous spark in JKaiba's eyes. But Mokuba saw it coming, clearly before anyone else. In a desperate attempt to calm his brother down, he reached his hand out, and was just about to call out and say something to him...but it was too late.

That last comment that Joey made seemed to be the thing to break the last piece of controlled patience in JKaiba. As if he had become possessed, he lunged forward grabbing Joey by the shirt and slamming him against the wall across from him. JKaiba yelled at him, "You were the one who convinced me to take this chance on us! You were the one that came onto me! How 'dare' you try and throw that back in my face!!"

JKaiba then hissed at Joey again dangerously, "And don't you dare lie to me and tell me your remember nothing of our times together..."

Joey struggled to get out of JKaiba's grip, but he was far too strong. But Joey refused to show fear of him, as he snapped back, "Are you crazy?? I never slept with you! I've never slept with anyone!"

During this time, Tristan was approaching JKaiba and was ready to grab his arm, in an attempt to forcibly pull JKaiba off of him. But, after Joey blurted that last part out, Tristan suddenly stopped. "So, Joey...does this mean you're still a virgin?" he asked, rather curious and forgetting that he was attempting to save his best friend.

"What? Uh...did I just say that out loud?"

JKaiba slammed him against the wall again, making sure to get Joey's full attention. "You think this is a joke? So, what you're saying is that you don't remember us, and neither does all of your so-called friends...is that it? I suppose all of Japan has just conveniently forgotten the media frenzy as well, hmm?? Or is it just you and the dweeb group making this up?"

"All of Japan??" Joey chuckled. "Geez...I hope not." But the humor quickly died down in his voice, to see those cold steel eyes of JKaiba glaring right into his own, as if he was looking into Joey's soul. Joey nervously swallowed, then drawing up some courage, he spat out, "Hey...I aint making nothing up, Kaiba!"

JKaiba then harshly shoved Joey back into the wall. That instant, his eyes totally iced over, as he said, "Fine...if this is the way you want to be, I have no problem with it. You were nothing but an easy fuck, anyway." At once, JKaiba turned from him, about to leave.

Joey looked totally unsure how to respond to JKaiba. It was definitely insulting and degrading to say the least. The problem was he knew if he opened his mouth to defend himself, he'd probably sound more like he did do something with him. So, for once...he kept his mouth shut, in an attempt to not incriminate himself. Besides, JKaiba obviously had to be lying, so why should he care what the guy said??

JKaiba was on his way out the door, but before he had the chance to go, Mokuba suddenly blurted out, "Stop it!!!"

JKaiba froze and looked over at Mokuba, who came running over to him, wearing Kaiba's old trench coat. As tired as Mokuba felt, he also knew he had to say something. He didn't know what happened in this other Kaiba's world, but from the sound of it he and Joey were some kind of item. And he couldn't let JKaiba think that other world's Joey rejected him, because of what was said here. He had to try and clear this up, somehow.

"Seto, please...it's not Joey. The problem isn't him, it's you. You're...you're not my real brother."

"What?" JKaiba asked him, now paranoia beginning to kick in, wondering if his own brother was turning against him.

Mokuba sighed, knowing that probably didn't sound right, at all. "I didn't mean it in the way it sounded. Listen, the point is...Joey's not lying. He's not trying to hurt you. But you two were really never together."

JKaiba couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But...you knew about this." he said. "You don't believe me, either?"

"Of course I do!" Mokuba said. "I know you're not lying. But you don't belong here...you're not 'my' Seto." Mokuba said. He wish he could get the words right to better explain it to his brother. But he was just so tired, and it was probably time for his medicine again soon.

Before JKaiba could say another word, Mokuba heavily leaned on him for support. JKaiba felt hurt and betrayed, and didn't know who to believe. When confused, his instincts were to return to Gozaburo's teachings; meaning...don't trust anyone. Everyone was against him...show no weakness, and hurt them back if possible.

But at the same time, Mokuba was outside the normal realm of his rules. So, he assumed Mokuba's mysterious illness must be at fault for his strange thinking, and he'd discuss what was going on with his brother later.

By now, Yami had once again taken over for Yugi. He stepped forward, stating, "Kaiba...Mokuba is right. You are not from this world. You should stay here with us, until we can get this straightened out."

But JKaiba no longer believed in anything they had to say. Since none of their explanations made sense, he could only think of his own reasons for Joey turning on him. And any reasoning JKaiba thought up had emerged through fear, pain, and paranoia. He assumed Yugi had all ready used some kind of ancient Egyptian voodoo trick in order to get him, Mokuba, and Joey here. Perhaps this was done just so they could gang up on him and attack him for daring to show feelings towards Joey. He had allowed himself to trust Joey, and now it seemed the mongrel was daring to stab him in the back for the power JKaiba had given him.

JKaiba couldn't understand it. If Joey was having problems about them being together, why didn't he approach him about it? Why did he instead decide to play some kind of mind game with him? It was a slap in the face for Joey to insult him by not even being honest with him. It was something he would never be able to forgive him for.

But despite the emotions raging through JKaiba, he managed to look down at his brother leaning heavily on him, and focused on him first and foremost. Mokuba was all that mattered...all that ever mattered. And his brother was so tired and miserable right now, but at the same time was struggling so hard to be awake and be there for him. No, he was not going to sit around worrying about these idiots... he would concentrate on what was important, what had always been important to him. JKaiba gently picked Mokuba up, blue trench coat and all, saying, "Come on, kiddo...let's get you home and into bed."

Mokuba yawned and put his arms around JKaiba's neck, not in the mood to argue. Though he knew it wasn't his big brother, he still felt safe and secure in his arms.

"Kaiba..." Yami said, again demanding JKaiba's attention, and hoping he would listen to what he had said.

"Save it, Yugi." JKaiba snapped, not caring in the least. "If you think for a second that I'm going to stick around and listen to any more of this ridiculous game you losers are playing, you can forget it. I'm taking my little brother and going home. And if you have a problem with that, then that's too bad..."

Refusing to listen to anymore, JKaiba turned and headed out the door. He only paused for a moment to look coldly down at Joey with anger and... hurt? When there was no sign of apology or guilt in Joey's eyes, JKaiba then continued out the door with Mokuba in his arms, trench coat loudly flapping behind him as he exited the room.

"I think we should keep an eye on them." Yami said, concerned with how JKaiba reacted, as well as this other Kaiba's very appearance into their world. Something was terribly wrong...he could feel it.

"Why... what could possibly happen? I mean, so maybe we switched one world's Kaiba for another. What's the big deal, already?" Tristan asked.

"I don't care who's who, I just don't want that weird one anywhere near me!" Joey said.

"Aww, come on, Joey... I kind of thought you liked that kiss." Tristan snickered.

"What! No way!" Joey spat out.

"Now's not the time to be fighting. I have a bad feeling about all of this. Something is wrong." Yami said.

"What could have gone wrong? You probably sent the other guy home." Tea said.

"It's not that... I think something far worse has happened. I didn't fully understand the magic that sent him here. Though I believe I had indeed succeeded in sending Seto back, the powers that brought him here may have triggered an unexpected chain reaction."

"What kind of reaction? I mean, it can't be all bad...it was simply swapping one for the other." Joey said.

"I can't explain it, Joey. It's just a feeling I have...as if this is only the beginning!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the mansion, JKaiba walked in carrying Mokuba, when he froze.

"Mokuba...come on kiddo, I need you to wake up for me."

Mokuba sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong, Seto?"

"What's wrong is someone's been doing some redecorating. The furniture has been moved. I don't even recognize that piece." he muttered out loud, pointing at a nearby chair. Could this be the act of a thief? But, who would replace a piece of furniture with another?

Mokuba was confused and looked around the room. "Everything looks the same to me." Mokuba then looked at JKaiba and smiled. "Everything's okay, Seto. You're probably just reacting like that, because you're not from this world...remember? You're from an another reality."

JKaiba put Mokuba down. "You've been listening to the dweeb group for far too long over there. Go on upstairs and get to bed. The last thing I need to hear is more nonsense on magic. Alternate realities...give me a break."

"Whatever you say, but the sooner you accept it...the sooner you can work on getting home." Mokuba said simply, heading to bed without question this time.

JKaiba then noticed something move on the couch, and cried out, "Mokuba, wait!"

Mokuba quickly turned and followed JKaiba's line of sight. Both calmed immediately, seeing it was only a cat. Mokuba smiled, saying, "Oh, it's just Tipper. How did you get out of your room? The pantry door must have stuck again when I was closing it. Sorry, Seto. But, can she sleep in my room, tonight?"

"Tipper?" JKaiba asked, glaring down at him. "You brought a cat into my house, even named it, and didn't bother to ask me for approval?"

Mokuba groaned, shaking his head. "I already told you, you're not from this world! 'My' Seto said I could keep her. Joey gave her to me as a 'get well soon' gift, when I got sick."

JKaiba glared down at Mokuba, snapping, "I will not let you use Yugi's stupid excuse as some sort of imaginary friend of yours that lets you do what you want! I will not allow that thing in my house!"

"It's not an excuse, it's the truth!" Mokuba yelled back, defying his brother. It quieted JKaiba, not sure how to react. Mokuba was never this hell bent on opposing him, unless JKaiba was in fact going against something he had said. "You're not taking my cat away!"

That cat only made JKaiba feel more pain as well, since Mokuba stated that was a gift from Joey...the person who dared to reject him, and pretend everything they went through never happened. He turned away, and snapped, "Then just throw that thing back in the pantry. We'll discuss it later. I better not see it again."

Mokuba sighed, and nodded his head...giving up on bringing her to bed with him. He was obviously upset by Joey's actions towards him today, and Mokuba could tell his brother was hurting. There was no sense to try and make it worst, by pushing the issue.

"Okay, Seto..." he said, taking the cat and heading downstairs to put it back where it was supposed to stay.

JKaiba then stormed to his office room. He took a moment to turn on a security monitor, watching Mokuba put the cat down and leave the room...staring hatefully at the cat that he now saw as a symbol of Joey.

'He's wrong.' JKaiba thought, as Mokuba went to his room.

Despite all that was happening around him, every piece of this house that looked different to him, he still refused to believe it. 'Maybe I've simply been working too hard. Joey has been complaining that the three of us should take a vacation together.'

JKaiba then sighed at the stabbing memory that those thoughts brought up. 'Joey...' Thoughts of them together, enjoying themselves...making him for once experience what true happiness was again. But then the pain he felt, as Joey's cold behavior towards him turned everyone against him, pretending nothing ever happened between them.

JKaiba again looked at the playful cat in the monitor. 'I only wish it was another world.' he thought sadly for a moment, but then shook the thoughts from his mind. JKaiba was a realist and didn't believe in fantasizing in such nonsense. He knew this relationship with Joey would come back to bite him later. No one shows acts of niceness without a reason. How could he have been stupid enough to believe otherwise? The only thing he could do now is close his heart up and forget about it all...like it never happened, just like Joey said.

So, JKaiba turned off the security monitor and powered up his laptop, ready to go through the work that needed to be done.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile...Mokuba had fallen asleep almost the minute his head hit the pillow. Twenty minutes later, a light appeared and another Kaiba appeared in the room.

'What happened? I was just…I where am I?' Then as he scanned the room, he heard whimpering.

He looked over and was surprised to see Mokuba curled up on the bed, after he had kicked most of the covers off.

He smiled, walked over and covered the small boy back up, beginning to lightly rub his arm to chase away his nightmare. That's when a dark computer monitor caught his attention from the shine of the moonlight coming in.

SMKaiba blinked, looking at the object. 'That's strange...when did he get a monitor in his room? Gozaburo never allowed him to have a computer. Could it be a gift from him?' SMKaiba's eyes then narrowed, thinking, 'If you think you can buy my little brother enough to make him side with you, you're sorely mistaken! Once SMK is stable and on it's own feet, I'll take your company next, old man. I refuse to let your weapon's industry taint my company's name and reputation! Someday, Mokie...SMK will be ours free and clear of Gozaburo. We'll be allowed to run the company the way we see fit, and not him!'


	28. C28 Too Many Big Brothers!

_**C28 Too Many Big Brothers!**_

After SMKaiba was sure Mokuba was sleeping soundly, he got up, double checked the covers, then gave him a slight peck on the head. But in so doing, he noticed his head was warm.

'Is he sick? Can't be...' he thought, now checking his head with his hand. He shook his head, deciding, 'Maybe he's just extra warm from the covers.'

But just as SMKaiba was about to turn and leave, something else caught his eye...a 1/2 filled water cup was on the dresser, along with a spoon that still had the residue of medicine on it. That meant Mokuba had been taking medicine, recently.

SMKaiba's eye twitched. 'Then, he is sick. But, when did this happen?'

It would be no surprise that something would happen in SMKaiba's own home, without him knowing about it. His struggle to make SMK a reality kept him gone quite a lot, lately. And it certainly didn't help having his stepfather trying to sabotage and undermine everything he did, that he didn't approve of.

Oh, on the outside...Gozaburo Kaiba seemed to be the perfect father that they were looking for. But this same man showed him his deceptive side far too often to be ignored. It didn't take long at all for him to realize SMKaiba's weakness was his brother, and quickly went for the jugular. Anytime SMKaiba did something his stepfather didn't want him to do, Mokuba was the first thing to be used against him.

Worst still, Mokuba didn't have a clue what this man was really like, and saw him as a loving father. And as much as SMKaiba wanted to warn him and tell him the truth...he couldn't do it. In Mokuba's eyes, he finally had a caring family, he had the happiness and stability that SMKaiba wanted him to have. He simply couldn't shatter his little brother's dreams. And that too was used against him.

Thanks to Gozaburo, Mokuba now thought SMKaiba just selfishly didn't like him because he wasn't their true father, which helped to sway Mokuba against him more times than he'd care to remember. Fortunately, their stepfather couldn't turn Mokuba against the dream of building a game company, since it was what they both wanted. The only problem was that now Gozaburo was doing all in his power to try and make SMK go down...since he wanted SMKaiba to run his weapon's company, when he retired. SMKaiba was fearful of his company's future with their stepfather owning part of the company, and had no idea what to do about it.

And now with Mokuba sick, and him not being informed about it...it made SMKaiba wonder if this too was a plan of Gozaburo's. He couldn't help it...the old man made him paranoid, leaving him wondering what was next every time he turned around. Maybe Gozaburo kept Mokuba's sickness quiet, to time it just right for the stockholder's meeting. After all, he did conveniently schedule it tomorrow for them, and knew without Mokuba's support there, it could make Kaiba feel that much more unsure of himself. Maybe he was even hoping SMKaiba wouldn't show up at all, to stay with his sick brother.

He'd never admit this to Mokuba, but SMKaiba was afraid...afraid of the future, afraid that Gozaburo would win.

SMKaiba's paranoia now made him worry about the medicine that was being given to Mokuba, too. For all he knew, his brother was being drugged to only get more sick, instead of better. 'I gotta find that medicine.' he decided, then got up and ready to leave. But he stopped in his tracks as he heard an odd noise in the room.

He turned back around to see a small kitten crawl from under the bed, then leap on the bed and curl himself up on the pillow beside his brother.

SMKaiba's eyes widened in shock. He looked at Mokuba and the kitten, back and forth trying to figure this equation out. Could their stepfather have brought this in? Maybe it was a bribe, in another attempt to win his brother over.

'No...that can't be. The old man hates animals. Even he wouldn't stoop so low.' That could only mean Mokuba snuck it in.

He gave a faint smile, reaching his hand over to the kitten that rubbed against him as he approached. 'Mokie, you should know better'. SMKaiba thought. He knew this would end up with him getting in trouble. After all, when Gozaburo blew a gasket from this, he certainly wasn't going to let Mokuba take the blame. That only meant one thing...he'd have to tell Gozaburo he let him keep the cat, and take whatever punishment was coming. But, even still...it was nice seeing the slight rebellious side of Mokuba come out towards their stepfather once in a while. This kind of punishment SMKaiba could gladly live with.

He then pulled away, remembering he had to find that medicine.

After leaving the room, SMKaiba walked downstairs and saw the note that Aiko had left with his medicine times on it. Sure enough, the medicine appeared to be perfectly normal, confirming that maybe he was just being paranoid again.

But when he looked at the clock to confirm Mokuba's last medicine time, he was not only upset to find that it was past time for him to take it, but that it was a lot later than he remembered it even being. 'How the hell did it get so late? Well, at least someone's been looking after him, with his times here.'

SMKaiba then took the medicine, and headed back to Mokuba's room, though his mind was still whirling with thoughts about this. 'Maybe I'm just looking too much into it, and he just got sick, after all. Perhaps what Mokuba's been telling me is right, this time. Maybe I'm just getting too paranoid about our father's intentions.'

He got a fresh cup of water and a thermometer from Mokuba's bathroom, then walked back and placed the items on his nightstand. "Mokie, come on...time to take your medicine."

Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes. Seeing the white coat, he assumed it was the same one from before.

"First let's take your temperature." SMKaiba was a bit concerned when it read 101.7. "All right, now take your medicine." As he was giving him his medicine, he wanted to ask how long he was like this, when he got that cat, and why he didn't tell him. But Mokuba looked so tired...he didn't want to bother him with stupid questions, now. He could always ask in the morning, before his meeting. But he did think, 'Old man, if I find out you knew he was this sick and you've kept this from me...I'll make you pay!'

After Mokuba had finished taking his medicine, SMKaiba marked the time off the sheet. After all, whoever was taking care of Mokuba had to be aware of him getting the medicine, so there were no mistakes in over-medicating him. Then he tucked him back in, kissed his forehead, and left the room to let Mokuba sleep.

At first, he started towards the upstairs office where Gozaburo worked, but as soon as he entered the hallway, he decided against it. 'No, I don't think I could handle a confrontation at the moment. I'll just go to bed, and get some rest. Then I can deal with the upcoming investors meeting first. I'll deal with him later.' Of course, he had no way to know that the other Kaiba had already taken care of that, when he was there.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Meanwhile in Kaiba's office, JKaiba was still brooding over Joey. He was trying to work, but was failing miserably. Staring at the monitor, his only focus was Joey at the moment. "I don't understand...why did he act the way he did? It's one thing to decide against us being together, but to childishly act like nothing ever happened? Could Yugi be behind this? He seemed like he wasn't against us being together...in fact, no one did. So, why did they all behave like this?"

JKaiba then stood, finally getting away from the monitor, and stared out the window. "He's the one to came onto me from the very beginning. He's the one that kissed me."

He shook his head, thinking, 'Maybe this whole idea was a mistake to begin with.'

JKaiba was in conflict...his paranoid side was telling him that Joey planned this from the beginning, waiting for him to open up to him, only so that Joey could hurt him later. Yet, the side that still cared for Joey was insisting that Joey was not like that. Plus, it didn't help with Mokuba trying to tell him that he was supposedly in another dimension, which was why things were the way they were. 'That has to be the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. It's almost like Mokuba's taking their side...'

But JKaiba quickly shook that from his head. If there's one thing he trusted in this world, it was his brother. He would never let anything sway him otherwise, no matter what - especially Joey. 'Mokuba would never do anything to hurt me...it's absurd to even think that. No, that cold of his must be getting to him. Either that, or maybe Yugi did do something to brainwash everyone. Brainwash...maybe that psycho Marik has something to do with this.'

Kaiba then quickly realize to believe that would be believing in magic, and decided to once again sway his mind to a different direction. 'There has to be a logical reason for this. Maybe this is some sort of twisted game.'

That thought seemed to make more sense to Kaiba, but at the same time...it hurt. After all, he really did believe that Joey cared for him. To believe this was to believe that all this time, Joey and perhaps Yugi were playing him for a fool. But it was the only reason he could come up with. He was stupid enough to take the chance of opening his heart to Joey, and ended up getting burned in the end. He could only imagine them over there at Yugi's right now, laughing about this sick and twisted game they had played with him. He could still clearly remember the looks on their faces when he kissed Joey, as if he had committed some kind of horrendous crime. Just thinking of it caused Kaiba to clench his hands and teeth, trembling in pain that his relationship was nothing but a big joke, and at his own expense. His thoughts began to consider revenge, and lashing out in some way. He didn't care if they wanted to suddenly turn into gay bashers, but refusing to acknowledge that Joey and him were ever together was too much.

Kaiba finally turned to his computer and started typing frantically, snapping, "They don't want to acknowledge me? Fine, then I'll give them proof even they can't deny, and smear it right in their faces!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

While this was happening, SMKaiba was at the moment having problems of his own. There was also a computer in the bedroom, where SMKaiba was typing away at, himself. He glared at the monitor, totally baffled by what he was looking at. "What hell is going on around here? I have searched through every file and have found nothing on SMK. And why are the stock reports telling me that I own 51 of Kaiba Corp and Mokuba owns 10? What happened to Gozaburo? And where are the pictures from my desk? I know Gozaburo hates them, but he's never dared take anything from my room before. Would he have taken them, now?'

There was a brief thought in his mind listing various times that pictures had ever ended up missing in the past. There was a time before the orphanage, a time shortly after the orphanage when they were just adopted, and another time after duelist kingdom when Kaiba was actually forced to work with his own stepfather to deal with the traitorous Big 5. SMKaiba would have rather stayed in that card Pegasus put him in, than ever work with his stepfather on anything...but he did it for Mokuba. He still remembered when Mokuba was kidnapped by Pegasus, and Gozaburo insisted not to worry about it and get back to work...insisting that if he gave up the SMK nonsense of running a gaming company and stuck with Kaiba Corp, Mokuba would probably be released and returned safely. As if he would ever sit back and let someone hold Mokuba hostage, and do nothing about it.

SMKaiba quickly shook the thoughts from his head, trying to keep his mind on the present. When he checked on Mokuba in the morning, he would make sure to ask his brother about the pictures, instead of jumping to conclusions. After all, right now he had to figure out why the stock market was insisting that he was in control of Kaiba Corp. 'Could Gozaburo be so desperate for me to take control of his weapons company that he'd transfer the stocks in my and Mokuba's name? No...he would never take the chance of giving me such power. Besides, he's not even listed. The media would be in a frenzy if they heard about this.' "...and where are all my files and records for SMK?" he spat out loud, looking through his file cabinet now, finding nothing on it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As this was happening, yet another Kaiba had appeared on the living room couch. His eyes opened and he scanned around. He blinked a few times, surprised that he had fallen asleep, and wondered when the TV was turned off. 'What time is it?' he wondered and quickly scanned for a clock.

At that, his eyes widened even more. "How did it get so late? Somehow, we missed suppertime. I'm surprised Mokuba didn't bother me about it...he must be starved by now."

MEKaiba got up from the couch and looked around...it was so quiet in his house. He was used to Mokuba making some kind of noise, playing video games, running around, laughing, being with him. Where was he? And why did his living room not seem...right, somehow?

But his concern that Mokuba may not have eaten over-ridded everything else at the moment, and he headed straight for his room.

'Maybe he's mad at me.' MEKaiba thought, heading towards the stairs. 'I have been working a lot, lately. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to him.'

With his thoughts on Mokuba, MEKaiba headed up the stairs straight to Mokuba's room. He opened the door, and felt it was even stranger that the room was dark. At first, he thought no one was even in here, until he noticed the slight movement of covers, showing Mokuba in bed. Next he checked his watch to make sure he didn't sleep 'that' late. No...Mokuba should still be up at this hour.

So, he then moved his hand to the light switch, and turned on the light...waking Mokuba up.

Mokuba immediately sat up, rubbing his eyes, and muttered, "Seto...is something wrong?"

MEKaiba walked over and sat down next to him on the bed. He was about to question why he was in bed when he noticed he looked a touch pale, so his hand instantly went to his forehead. "Mokuba...are you sick?"

Mokuba rubbed his eyes trying to wake up, and looked up at Seto sitting next to him. He too had a white trench coat, and assumed he must be the one that showed up at Yugi's. But, then...why did he ask about him being sick again? And why was he getting weird vibes from him. Even though he still seemed just as caring as his brother, he was sure there was an odd glint in his eye, that Mokuba could not identify. 'What did it mean?'

But for the moment, Mokuba was simply too tired to care, anyway. He yawned and muttered tiredly, "You all ready gave me medicine earlier, Seto...don't you remember?"

"No, I didn't." MEKaiba stated. "When did this happen?"

Mokuba muttered, "It happened a week ago."

MEKaiba crossed his arms, retorting, "It did not happen a week ago. Why are you lying to me?"

His kid brother then groaned, as he began to realize this must be yet 'another' Seto, and laid back down in bed. "You're right...I'm fine. Can I go to sleep, now?"

"Mokuba, you're not fine...you have a fever. I assume that's why you went to bed early. Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

Again, Mokuba got that weird vibe and glanced up at his brother. The last sentence didn't sound right to him. His brother normally used the tone of voice to him, like he was scolding a little kid. But, MEKaiba sounded more like he was talking to an equal. Perhaps he also sounded even more worried in his tone than expected.

He sighed, and stated tiredly, "Seto...don't worry if it doesn't make sense, okay? You're just another Seto from another world...that's why you don't remember. How many of you are there here, anyway?" For a moment, it made Mokuba worried that maybe he should check around the house for wandering brothers. But again, he was too tired to worry about it, deciding he'll simply deal with it in the morning.

MEKaiba blinked at the odd statement, then gave him a smile. "Sorry, kiddo...I probably shouldn't have woken you up. Maybe your fever's getting to you, or you're having a strange dream. Just go to sleep, and we'll discuss it in the morning."

"I'm not dreaming." he murmured, closing his eyes. "Go talk to Yugi...he knows all about this."

"We'll see. Now, go back to sleep." MEKaiba said, kissing the boy's cheek.

That caused Mokuba's eyes to suddenly shoot open again. He glanced up at his brother, rubbing his cheek, asking, "What was that for?" It certainly wasn't something his brother would ever do. In fact, he couldn't imagine any version of him doing so.

"Sorry." Kaiba smiled sheepishly. "I'd kiss you on the lips, but I don't want to catch your cold."

Kaiba had turned away after that, heading towards the light switch...totally missing the wide-eyed look on Mokuba's face after saying that, as Mokuba's jaw dropped in unison. MEKaiba then reached over to turn off the light switch, and turned to him, saying, "Sorry for waking you. I didn't know you were sick. I wondered why it was so quiet in here. Get some rest, and I'll check on you in the morning. But if you're not better by tomorrow, I'm going to have a doctor check you out."

"Seto...you already did that." Mokuba said, ignoring the kiss comment for the moment. "In fact, another Seto just gave me medicine a couple minutes ago. If you don't believe me, check the list...it shows it."

"Mokuba, you really need to get some rest. Hopefully that fever of yours will break by tomorrow. See ya in the morning." MEKaiba said, blowing him a kiss and then closed the door.

'Maybe he's right.' Mokuba thought. 'Maybe I am dreaming...'

As Mokuba was about to try again to sleep, he felt a thudding noise at the side of his bed, and nearly jumped out of his skin.

Fortunately, he was relieved to see it was just Tipper, as she bounded back onto the bed, after slipping off the covers.

Mokuba smiled, petting the kitten. "You sure do jump around a lot. How did you get back out of the kitchen, anyway? Must be that stupid door again."

'Well, at least this Seto didn't see it and start to yell at me about it again. I'm getting tired of hearing it.' Mokuba thought as he laid back down once again trying to get back to sleep.

The problem was...now he couldn't. Now all he could think about was how many Kaiba's were wandering around the household, and what would happen once they started to run into each other?

'Ugh.' Mokuba muttered, knowing that was bad news. He could see them calling security, which would cause even more problems.

So, Mokuba slowly began to pull himself out of bed. He had to start to find them before that happened, and try to keep the situation as pacified as much as possible. It was shocking to him that they haven't even met yet, as far as he knew. But since there was no yelling, or smashing noises...he assumed that didn't yet happen.

Unfortunately, due to Mokuba's cold, he was running at 1/2 speed. He had to find his slippers and robe, take a moment to shake off the sleep and the medicine-head feeling. He made sure he was buttoned up tight and was ready to go.

But then another wave of tiredness hit him, and he muttered, "Ah, the hell with it..."

Moving back towards bed, he thought, 'They haven't found each other, yet. Another couple of minutes in bed isn't going to hurt anything, is it?'

So, before he ended up trekking off to find his suddenly 'many' big brothers, he collapsed back into bed, letting sleep once again take him over.


	29. C29 When Kaiba’s Collide

_**C29 When Kaiba's Collide**_

MEKaiba had made it to the kitchen by this time, and began whipping up some food as he thought about the strange comments that Mokuba had made to him. 'Another me? He sure has an active imagination at times...'

He then stopped, realizing he didn't ask Mokuba if he wanted something to eat or not. 'I shouldn't bother him, anymore...he's sick.' MEKaiba reminded himself. But he was still worried that Mokuba might want something to eat. After a momentary struggle if he should go back and ask him or not, he finally decided against it. 'He'd tell me if he was hungry.' he reasoned, and continued with making himself something. Yes...leaving him alone was the right decision to make. Plus, after Mokuba woke up, he could ask him then.

So, MEKaiba began to make himself some food, since he hadn't eaten yet. The food was placed into a frying pan, and began to sizzle. Soon the aroma began to waft up the stairs, and catch the scent from SMKaiba.

SMKaiba was still having problems searching for any of the things regarding SMK, and trying to figure out why the stocks were all screwed up. By this time, he had begun to assume that this wasn't the real stock report, at all. Somehow Gozaburo must have went so far as to place false documents into the computer and have it online linked with a similar computer to show this so-called stock report. Why, he couldn't be sure. Perhaps it was his step father's way of showing him what it would look like to own Kaiba Corp in the future. But whatever the reason, SMKaiba wasn't impressed.

He was presently bringing up his own hack programs to dissect all these reports and find out just exactly where they came from and what he was looking at, when he suddenly smelled the scent of food in the air.

SMKaiba turned his attention on the open doorway, then looked over at the clock. "That's strange...it's a little late for supper." he said out loud. He decided to go down though, since maybe he could get some answers from whoever was cooking. SMKaiba got up, and began to head downstairs. He opened the kitchen doors...and in that instant, Kaiba faced Kaiba.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

JKaiba had also been working on his own computer. He had been searching through information on the two news broadcasts that he clearly remembered...one was when the news discovered him and Joey together, and the other was the press conference where he admitted his relationship to the public with Joey. Yet...there was nothing there. In fact, he couldn't find one piece of information involving him and Joey.

'That's impossible!' he thought, becoming more irritated. 'Could Joey have gone out of the way to take all evidence of our time together, before throwing this at me? No, he's not smart enough to do that. Then again...he did have help from Yugi, who was more than thorough when it came to games.' JKaiba immediately walked out of the office towards his bedroom, remembering the pictures he had of them. On the way, he smelled something cooking. JKaiba immediately froze, thinking, 'Who would be cooking?' Mokuba was sick, the cook was fired a while ago, and Joey...

JKaiba instantly felt a strange rush of hope stir in him. Could Joey have come back? Maybe this was all a strange nightmare, and everything was back to normal.

'Joey' he thought, and began to quickly dash downstairs. On the way, he was hearing arguing and fighting from the kitchen, and the voices were familiar...but he couldn't catch it yet. When he finally showed up and opened the kitchen door, he ran into...himself? There were in fact two versions of himself inside the kitchen.

One was spitting venom at the other one who had pulled a knife at the other, accusing him of being an intruder...as if he was the real Seto Kaiba. The one holding a knife was also...cooking?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As SMKaiba entered the kitchen, MEKaiba turned to face another version of him and immediately grabbed the knife, while the other stood frozen and in shock.

"Who the hell are you?" MEKaiba hissed.

"ME?" SMKaiba snarled, looking for the nearest item he could use as a weapon. "You might fool the guards with that fake disguise, but you certainly don't fool me!"

"Idiot." MEKaiba sneered. "You have the audacity to come face to face with me, and then try to accuse me to be some kind of fake? Who the hell are you trying to fool!"

That's as far as it went, when a third Kaiba suddenly rushed into the kitchen. This one even seemed almost excited about something, at first. But, that quickly changed once he saw who was really in the room.

JKaiba immediately snapped at the other 2 silent versions of him, questioning, "Who the hell are you two?" almost mirroring MEKaiba's first question. His eyes then immediately narrowed, stating, "So, Mokuba was right...he really has seen an imposter of me. But, there are two of you!" Maybe these imposters had something to do with why Joey was acting so strangely.

"I'M not the imposter, here!" MEKaiba boomed, who was positioned at the stove, "You two are the imposters!"

"That's ridiculous, I am no imposter!" SMKaiba snapped. He then hesitated, and asked, "Where's Gozaburo?" immediately thinking this must be 'his' doing.

JKaiba snickered, saying, "For someone pretending to be me, you're not very good at it. Gozaburo Kaiba has been dead for almost 2 years, now."

MEKaiba nodded in agreement with JKaiba, as SMKaiba snapped, "I am NO imposter! If that is true, then how did he die?" He then turned to MEKaiba and added, "And at least the last time I remember, I've never cooked." glaring at MEKaiba accusingly, while JKaiba silently agreed with SMKaiba on the matter.

"I've been able to cook for sometime, which should prove that I'm the real Kaiba!" MEKaiba snapped at them.

JKaiba was thinking during this moment of the reminder from Mokuba, that he was not from this dimension. But still...he stubbornly dismissed the idea, insisting there had to be another reason for this, while trying to figure out how these two fit into the equation of Joey's strange behavior towards him.

'If someone pretending to be me happen to upset him...that might actually make some sense. Why didn't I think of that before? If there are multiple 'me's' wandering around, maybe one of them offended him and he became confused by who was talking to him. Damn...I should have thought of this sooner. But are they working together and simply trying to confuse me, or are they working separately? They don't seem like they're working together the way they fight. But, still...it could be an act.' Finally, JKaiba snapped, "Enough! This is getting us nowhere!"

They both turned to him now, as MEKaiba snapped, "And why should I listen to you? After all, you're clearly an imposter."

The sizzling from the frying pan then distracted MEKaiba, as he turned back to the pan quick, to make sure the food didn't burn or catch on fire from not paying attention to it. He had to put the knife down to do so, but seemed to be ready to pick it back up at a moment's notice.

While, SMKaiba was now staring at JKaiba at the moment, focusing on the necklace around his neck, and certain that it had to be a fake. He could easily prove that neither were him, if he could simply see the inside of the pendants. Instinctly, SMKaiba reached for JKaiba's necklace, causing JKaiba to immediately react, grabbing at his wrist defensively, and getting ready to fight.

That instantly caused a chain reaction from the both of them. As JKaiba reacted to SMKaiba, SMKaiba reacted back, and they both began to fight with each other, causing the other to turn and pick up the knife again, prepared to fight whoever dared come at him. The two fighting each other ended in a quick stalemate. SMKaiba finally pushed JKaiba away, snapping, "I was trying to look at your pendant."

"Were you now? Hmph...well that's a pretty dumb move for someone who's supposed to be a genius. For an imposter, you could have at least come here with the correct information about me, and should know how I would react. For a scam artist, I'd say you're pretty stupid." JKaiba mocked.

"Who the hell are you trying to fool? I know who I am! This is some kind of trick that Gozaburo came up with...isn't it? What is this, another test of his?" SMKaiba snapped.

MEKaiba snickered from the response from SMKaiba, as he turned back and mixed the food, saying, "You're ludicrus reasoning sounds almost as stupid as the Mutt."

This comment seemed to make both of the other Kaiba's tense. SMKaiba for being compared to Joey, and JKaiba because...

JKaiba immediately snapped at MEKaiba, yelling, "Joey is NOT a Mutt!" Both the other Kaiba's froze and stared at him like he was an alien, as MEKaiba said, "Hmph, if that comment doesn't prove you're an imposter...nothing will." and the other Kaiba agreed.

JKaiba at the moment had that same feeling as he did at Yugi's, when everyone was staring at him after kissing Joey...except this time is was like versions of himself looking down on him. But then, it wasn't surprising to be beating up on himself for his own flaws...now was it?

...his own flaws. Suddenly, JKaiba came up with another idea of what was happening. "Wait a minute!" he said. "What if we're 'all' who we claim to be?"

"That's not possible." SMKaiba stated.

"Isn't it? What if something broke us up into different aspects of ourselves? And then because we've been separated, we don't remember these other aspects of our personality." JKaiba said. He turned to MEKaiba, saying, "This part of ourselves can actually cook." He turned to SMKaiba, saying, "And you would have more knowledge of our stepfather...maybe you're perhaps a younger version of me. And I would be the side that has feelings for, well..."

"For who?" SMKaiba asked, not getting that his defensive attitude towards Joey went more than even friendship. "Either way, why should I have any interest besides what I already have now? I have Mokuba. As far as I'm concerned...I have all that I need."

"I agree." MEKaiba said, taking the food out of the pan, and putting it on his plate, turning the stove off. He understood what JKaiba was trying to say, and the thought of being attracted to that Mutt made him sick to his stomach. "Besides...why would I have feelings for the Mutt, if my interests direct towards Mokuba?"

SMKaiba looked at MEKaiba curiously, wondering what he meant by that. JKaiba simply laughed, saying, "That may be, but our feelings for Joey far differ from the feelings we have for our brother...obviously."

SMKaiba whirled, and looked at JKaiba with shock. 'Is he saying he has some kind of...'thing' for Wheeler?'

MEKaiba opened his mouth, like he was about to retort on JKaiba's comment, then realized...if they were imposters, then he clearly shouldn't be telling them this kind of information. So, MEKaiba simply nodded, saying, "Of course." to JKaiba's comment.

SMKaiba was immediately freaked out over what JKaiba had just said about having supposed 'feelings' for Joey, and spat out in disgust, "We do 'not' have an interest in the Mutt!"

But JKaiba didn't listen to SMKaiba, too focused on how MEKaiba reacted. He had all ready reasoned that they were all different aspects of him. So, if it was true...that meant JKaiba liked Joey, and the others didn't. MEKaiba had all ready shown the lack of interest in Joey, as much as SMKaiba did. So, then...why did he agree? If this situation was turned around, then MEKaiba should have technically reacted the same way that SMKaiba did. But he didn't. More so...he looked like he was hiding something. They way he reacted seemed like he was agreeing simply to drop the subject. But if that was the case, then that would mean that MEKaiba actually disagreed and felt...towards Mokuba...

Horror and rage immediately rose in JKaiba, as he sprang at MEKaiba, grabbing him by the collar, and slamming him against the kitchen wall. "I want to know what you meant about my brother...right now! If you dared touch my brother in anyway, I swear I'll..."

"That's enough!"

All three Kaiba's suddenly turned to see a tired, sick, and miserable-looking Mokuba outside the kitchen with his arms crossed and still holding his dragon, saying, "Will you three cut it out, already? I already told you guys that you're all from another dimension. I can't sleep with you all fighting like this!"

JKaiba immediately released MEKaiba, as the three approached Mokuba to make sure he was okay. But Mokuba shooed them away, saying, "Come on, one at a time or something...I'm feeling crowded, here."

JKaiba immediately glared at MEKaiba, as if to say, 'don't you dare come near him'. And the side of MEKaiba that still felt guilty over his relationship with his own brother, actually kept himself at bay for the moment, until everything could get straightened out.

SMKaiba didn't trust either of them, but didn't want to upset Mokuba further. So, he didn't fight at the moment. JKaiba said, "I'm sorry...we'll keep it down."

"Promise?" Mokuba asked, looking at all three of them. All of them felt the weight of Mokuba's stare and were unconsciously coaxed into nodding their agreement to the promise none of them wanted to make. Pleased with that, Mokuba weakly smiled and hugged his dragon.

All three were surprised by the toy, never remembering him even having a toy like that. It caused mixed feelings in all of them. ME and SMK wished they had now gotten him one, seeing how much he liked it, and wondered where he got it from...though they didn't ask.

As for JKaiba, he immediately felt the paranoia from seeing it. If they never had one here, then could it have been planted as a spy device or a bomb? "Where did you get that dragon?" he asked, assuming the worst.

"From Seto...'my' Seto. You're still not believing me, are you?" Mokuba asked. "You are so stubborn, sometimes. They're right in front of you, and you still wont accept that they're real!" He shook his head, putting his hand on his head, muttering, "I give up."

MEKaiba gave a slight smile, admiring Mokuba's words.

While, SMKaiba grabbed at JKaiba's shoulder, muttering coldly, "Quit interrogating my brother, you're upsetting him!"

JKaiba shook him off, muttering, "Shut up...you promised not to argue." refusing to even look in SMKaiba's direction.

Mokuba looked back up, all ready having a feeling that this promise he made them have was perhaps more than they could handle doing. They were all ready trying to argue, and he didn't even leave yet. But they all said absolutely nothing to each other now, just to avoid fighting for the moment.

So, satisfied that they wouldn't yell anymore, or at least not create too much trouble, he turned around, saying, "Okay...I'm going back to bed, then. Maybe you guys should check around and make sure there's no more Seto's showing up, while you're at it. And if there is...please don't fight with them." He then headed back upstairs to bed.

'More Seto's?' all three suddenly thought, as they turned and looked at each other. All three were now unconsciously agreeing that they had to be Kaiba in some way, shape, or form. After all, they all seemed to share the same affection towards Mokuba, and could not deny the kid a request, despite the situation. 'Maybe there really is some validity to what Mokuba said about another dimension.' JKaiba finally began to think to himself, as he glanced at the other two.

SMKaiba crossed his arms, saying, "All right...now what?"

MEKaiba said, "Well, we should probably sit down and try to figure this out."

"Fine." JKaiba said, deciding not to acknowledge his suspicions of MEKaiba for now. Perhaps he misinterpreted what MEKaiba was trying to say earlier. The whole idea of being 'that' close to Mokuba was pretty absurd, after all.

"Agreed." SMKaiba said. He headed towards the living room, as the others cautiously followed...none of them trusting each other, but refusing to fight either for Mokuba's sake.

They all left, with MEKaiba following behind, who had abandoned his food...now too focused on what he thought was more important at the moment: finding out why there were multiple versions of him, and how to fix it.

They sat down to discuss with each other what all this meant...both explaining the different aspects of their world to each other, and what they remember. MEKaiba was probably one that left the most out of his past life, deciding to keep his relationship with Mokuba and himself as hidden as he did in his normal life.

They finally agreed that maybe this 'different dimension' idea might actually have some merit, and decided they should probably check around the house, as Mokuba said, to ensure there were no other Kaiba's wandering around.

After searching around, it didn't take long for them to go back to their office to find...Kaiba. Yes, another Kaiba was on the computer, trying to find information about himself that was no longer there.

'How the hell did I end up back in Japan?' he thought, typing wildly. 'Where is the information on the US Kaiba land, and where is the information on Noah? I don't even see Kaiba Corp headquarters in the US, anywhere!'

He was even more shocked to see the door open, and three Kaiba's look in to find him, one muttering, "Looks like we found another one."

VWKaiba stood immediately, snapping, "Who the hell are you people?"


	30. C30 Mokuba meets Mokuba and New Kaiba’s

_**C30 Mokuba meets Mokuba and New Kaiba's join the party**_

While the Kaiba's argued and tried to explain the best they could about what they knew, another Kaiba appeared downstairs in the virtual room.

MKaiba sat up and looked around the room dazed. "Man, why does my head hurt?" He looked around. "And why does the room seem different?" As he got up and started to shake the dizziness from his head, he found a few of his brother's duel disks lying on a table. "Who would put these here? It almost looks like...someone was working on them. But how can that be? I'm the only one here." He thought about it and could only come up with maybe his brother somehow got a delivery person to put it there. And since his brother was now in charge of all security, nothing could have gotten past him.

MKaiba smiled, saying, "Maybe he got Joey to put these here. Well, there's only one way to find out." So, he headed to the nearest computer and said to it, "Seto, did you have an idea on improving the duel disks further? Seto?" When there was no answer, MKaiba started typing. "Seto, talk to me, answer me!"

Yet, there was still absolutely no response, simply an error as if he was typing on a normal machine void of all life. That frightened him, as he wondered what was going on. "Something's wrong...this never happened before." Fear began to fill him, as he thought, 'What if there was some strange power surge or something? Could he have gotten...deleted? Okay, okay, calm down...don't panic. That couldn't happen. Seto made precautions against everything. I'm sure he thought of that, too.' he thought. 'I'll check the office computer.'

MKaiba rushed upstairs to the third floor, ready to dart into the office, when he stopped...hearing noises coming from there. At first, he feared it was a break-in. But then suddenly...he realized he recognized all the voices...and they were all the same, too. He carefully moved towards the door and peaked inside. To his shock, he witnessed not one...but 4 different Seto's standing there, arguing with each other!

MKaiba's eyes went wide at what he was seeing. 'W-what's going on here? What's happening? Okay, I get it...I must be dreaming!' With his first instinct thinking this was a dream, Mokuba wanted to rush in there and hug them all. But then...if this was a dream, why was he still looking like his brother and not himself? 'Maybe I should wait and see what they're talking about, first.'

As the others argued, JKaiba's voice finally broke through the crowd of them, spitting out, "Enough! This isn't getting us anywhere, and besides...Mokuba is just downstairs. If we continue to fight like this, he's going to come up here and not get any sleep." JKaiba said turning to the other two. "We have a promise to keep. And I'm sure none of us wants him out of bed anymore than he has to be...do we?"

"No." Two of them mumbled.

'What do they mean by 'I'm just downstairs'?' MKaiba wondered.

"First of all, I didn't make any such promise. And secondly...why wouldn't you want him out of bed?" VWKaiba asked, checking his watch. "In fact, why's he even in bed, in the first place?"

"Well, when I checked him...he had a 101 degree fever." SMKaiba said.

'What? But I'm right here...I'm not sick.' MKaiba thought. In fact, as he thought about it, he also realized ever since he ended up in Seto's body, he almost never got sick anymore. When he used to be in his old body, he remembered getting sick all the time and wondered why.

"What the hell are you talking about? Mokuba is not sick! Noah would have told me if he was!" VWKaiba said. Then at a second thought, he added, "At least, he better have for his own sake. I'll shut the little brat down, if he didn't..."

At that comment, all 4 Kaiba's (which included MKaiba at the door) looked at him, strangely.

"Who's Noah?" MEKaiba blurted out, breaking the silence. In his world, they never met Noah. In fact, Battle City had not even happened yet.

"Gozaburo's son, obviously. Don't you know anything?" SMKaiba asked. He then turned to VWKaiba, asking, "What did you mean by 'you'd shut him down'? The last I knew, he was living with his mother in America."

"What are you talking about?" JKaiba asked. "Noah died when he was around Mokuba's age."

Mokuba listened in on what they were saying, hoping that their words would explain why there were multiple versions of his dead brother arguing in the room. But all it did was lead to more questions. All four of them seemed to have some kind of different history about them.

As much as he wanted to run in and hug every one of them, the sight of seeing his brother alive again was too painful to deal with, especially in such a confusing situation. MKaiba quietly rushed away, instead.

He went back downstairs to the second floor and put his hand on Seto's door, thinking about his own life and the lack of his brother. He had finally moved into his brother's bedroom when he became less upset over becoming his brother...literally.

It had been some time since then. It had been some time since he's actually really thought about his brother.

Mokuba sighed in depression. Seeing him again was a harsh reminder to him on just how much he had missed him. Like his brother used to do, Mokuba had been learning to block out hurtful things by working. He was now the CEO of Kaiba Corp, and probably becoming even more like his brother by the day. Yes...his brother was still alive. But him being inside a machine instead of there in real life made it become very easy at times to see him more as an intelligent computer than a brother.

'Seto...' Somehow, walking into his bedroom like it was his own just wasn't going to work for him, today. He couldn't do it.

MKaiba released the doorknob, and turned to face his own room again for the first time in awhile. He approached, opened the door, and entered. But as he scanned the room, something was also not right.

There were too many items in the room, too many personals...as if he still used it. When he took claim of his brother's room, he stripped his original room clean in an attempt to wipe away the past of what was, so it wouldn't be remembered as easily. There were clothes in here, trinkets...movement? Did something just move in his bed?

Immediately, MKaiba flipped on the light, to see what had suddenly occupied his room.

As soon as the light flicked back on, Mokuba winced and groaned, automatically assuming it was another version of his brother. 'Not again! I'm not going to get any sleep this way. I really wish Seto hadn't left.' Mokuba thought, as he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

MKaiba's eyes went wide with disbelief and cried out in panic seeing himself...his 'old' self in bed. Then he remembered what JKaiba said...

'Mokuba is just downstairs. If we continue to fight like this, he's going to come up here and not get any sleep.'

'He wasn't talking about me...he was talking about him!' MKaiba realized. No, this was definitely not a dream...it was a nightmare!

"Is something wrong?" Mokuba asked tiredly, wondering why this Seto looked so scared of him. 'This is something new...'

MKaiba quickly composed himself, yet cautiously approached the boy, not sure if what he was seeing was real. He quickly shook his head, saying, "Uh...no. I'm okay. I...I didn't know you were there. I didn't mean to wake you. Do you have a fever?" The last question was blurted out at the last second, simply to make sure there weren't maybe 4 of him wandering around, too.

Mokuba thought this one was acting really odd, but just smiled and said, "Yeah, I guess I do. But, don't worry...I'm fine. My cold's almost over." Then with slight pause, he too added, "You seem kind of...different from the other ones." then paused, wondering if he even knew about the other ones.

"Uh...yeah, that's kind of a long story." MKaiba paled.

So, he knew. But, why was he acting so strange? It was like he wasn't his brother, at all. "Are you okay? You look worse than I feel." Mokuba muttered.

"Actually, seeing so many other Seto's is...kind of a freaky thing to see."

No...this Seto definitely acted different. He didn't remember any time his brother used 'freaky' in a sentence. But, maybe this one came from a real strange universe. After all, he was still getting strange familiar vibes from this one.

Mokuba nodded, saying, "Yeah, I guess it is kinda weird...huh? Well, why don't take a break in Seto's room? Uh...I mean your room. That'll give you some time to adjust, anyway."

"I think I will...thanks." MKaiba smiled. He started to turn, but the movement from under Mokuba's bed caught his eye. To his surprise, a cat crawled from under the bed and jumped up where Mokuba laid.

MKaiba blinked, then a big wide smile appeared on his face. "Wow, you got a cat? Can I pet it? Pleease?"

Mokuba's eyes were as wide as saucers, and it took a minute for him to pick his jaw back up off the bed. It wasn't really the fact that this Seto liked cats that was so weird. He knew any possible likings Seto had towards animals were crushed long ago, once again thanks to Gozaburo. But the reactions were so unlike him. And yet...they were becoming more and more familiar by the moment. And Mokuba had a feeling he didn't want to know why, anymore.

As if this version of Kaiba had actually caught on to his own odd behavior, he quickly looked away, stuttering, "Uh...yeah. Well, I mean...it's good to know your version was nice enough to let you have a pet."

"You can pet her. I don't mind." Mokuba quickly said, not wanting to upset him because he was acting like a normal person for a change.

MKaiba cautiously sat down and started to pet the kitten that rubbed against him, affectionately.

As he did, Mokuba silently studied MKaiba, wondering if maybe the reason he was so familiar was that perhaps this was how he acted when he was a kid, at the orphanage? 'No...even then, I don't remember him being so out-going. He was kinda shy, really.' he thought.

"Wow, is that a Blue Eyes plushie?" MKaiba then suddenly asked, noticing the stuffed Blue Eyes on the bed. "That is so cool! Where did you get it?"

Mokuba smiled, "Thanks...my Seto had it made just for me."

'Seto...' MKaiba thought as a touch of sadness came over his face. 'Maybe if I didn't get sick, I would have gotten one, eventually. It must be nice still having a brother alive and in the flesh...'

He forced a smile on his face, and handed Tipper back to Mokuba. "I'm going to go lay down now. I'm sorry I woke you. You should try to get back to sleep, too."

He got up to leave, then paused remembering his brother wouldn't just leave him like that. He was supposed to be Kaiba, not Mokuba...or at least pretend to be.

Turning back towards Mokuba, he muttered, "Um...well, unless you want me to stay till you can get back to sleep."

Mokuba could clearly see this odd version of Kaiba needed the rest as much as he did. "No, its okay. You should rest."

MKaiba smiled, then turned out the light and shut the door. Then he walked across the hall to his brother's room. 'It's so strange to actually be talking to myself like that. I couldn't tell him who I was. It hurt enough for me when I found out how much Seto sacrificed to keep me alive. I can't tell him that Seto gave his own body away to me, just so I wouldn't die...I just can't.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At that same moment, another Seto appeared on the street. He was slightly dazed and confused, but quickly regained his bearings and ran towards Yugi's. Without warning, he charged into the shop and shut the door, then whirled back around towards the others...startling them all.

Yugi looked over at him, saying, "I'm sorry...we're closed."

"Yeah...funny." Seto chuckled. "Sorry I slammed the door, by the way. Oh, and I got that thing with the cops straightened out today, I thought you should know. It's all taken care of...they just confused me with someone else. See, they thought I was this one guy stealing and I told 'em I didn't steal anything this time. And can you imagine they actually didn't believe me?"

Everyone just stared at the guy, having no idea what to say.

"Aww, geez...not the looks." Seto said. "You don't believe me! Go ahead and ask Mokuba. I swear, he was with me the whole time!"

Everyone's eyes then immediately changed from confusion to horror, at the very thought that Mokuba was with this person. This person screamed trouble, putting warning lights up all through their heads.

Joey was the first to approach him, being the most spontaneous of the group and assuming this guy must be a kidnapper of some sort. He grabbed Seto by the collar, snapping, "What the hell do you think you were doing around Mokuba, huh? That kid's been sick. I swear, if you put a hand on him...!"

But that's as far as Joey got, before the guy's eyes widened in fear and started to flail around screaming, "Ahhh! What the hell is Kaiba doing here!"

Joey let him go and looked around quickly, asking, "He is? Where?"

But, Seto was looking at him. He turned to the others in the shop, while pointing at Joey, asking, "What the hell is Kaiba doing here? Tell me you kept that freako sister of yours away, at least..."

Joey totally missed the first part about being called Kaiba and the other part hit right on the button. He immediately spat out, "What did you just call my sista!"

An instant later, Joey was quickly grabbed by Tristan and Yugi, to keep him from pounding the crap out of this guy. Yugi looked over, saying, "Maybe you should go before he does some real harm to you."

But Tristan broke off from Joey, saying, "No way! I wanna know how this guy knows Mokuba."

"Me, too." Tea said.

"And why did you call Joey 'Kaiba'?" Yugi asked.

"He WHAT?" Joey snapped, and again tried to lunge at the guy. This time, Tea and Angie also grabbed hold of him, since Yugi was far too weak to hold Joey back on his own.

"But...that 'is' Kaiba." Seto said.

"You got some nerve calling 'me' Kaiba, you jerk! Who the hell are you, anyway?" Joey snapped.

"That's a good question. Who the hell are you?" Tristan asked.

Seto blinked, muttering, "You guys are just joking...right?"

"No...I'm afraid we're not." Yugi said. "Please...who are you?"

'Uh-oh. Why do I have the feeling I'm in trouble again. And even Mokuba can't get me outta this one .' He thought. "It's me...Seto." he answered.

Everyone let go of Joey, as Joey's jaw dropped. "No...way..."

/It's happening./ Yami warned Yugi. /I knew there was something worst going on then what we were seeing. Yugi...there's more than just one Kaiba./

/Oh, no./ Yugi thought, eyes widening in shock, as he realized the guy was telling the truth.

Joey cautiously approached the guy. Now that he thought about it, he was the same height and build, and his very long shaggy hair was the same chocolate brown color. But this version of Kaiba looked like some kind of modern day hippie. He had long scraggly hair, and beat-up clothes that Joey would even have a hard time wanting to wear.

As Joey moved his hand up, he brushed some of the hair away from the man's face and looked into his deep blue eyes. "Holy shit! It really 'is' him!" Joey spat out.

"Yeah, no shit." Seto replied, quickly shying away from Joey, who he still saw as the enemy. Seto was totally confused over what was going on, and was clearly cautious around Joey. After all, in his eyes...Joey was the one and only Joseph Kaiba.

After a long moment's pause of complete silence, Joey collapsed on the ground in a fit of laughter, pounding his fists on the ground in total hysterics. "Oh, man...tell me someone here has a camera. I gotta get a picture of this! Ahahahahaha!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

VWKaiba heard enough from these other versions of him, insisting that his brother was suddenly ill. He refused to believe anything they had to say to him. Insisting on checking on his own brother, he left before the others could stop him and ran towards Mokuba's room. He hurried over to Mokuba and put his hand on his forehead. "I know he wasn't sick this morning."

Mokuba had barely fallen back to sleep, when he felt the gently warm touch on his forehead. He stirred, hoping it was his brother...but quickly realized it was just another version of Kaiba, yet again.

VWKaiba asked sternly, "When did this happen? Why didn't Noah tell me about this? If he thought he was dead before, wait until I get my hands on him now..."

"I thought Noah 'was' dead." Mokuba said.

VWKaiba gave an evil smirk, saying, "Don't worry...he 'will' be."

MKaiba, hearing the commotion, got up and quickly snuck towards the room to see what was happening.

"Seto...seriously." Mokuba coughed.

VWKaiba's eyes softened, his heart going out for Mokuba in the condition he was in. "Why would you ask me that? You know he's trapped in our computer at Kaiba Land, US." Then with a moment's hesitation, thinking about all the other 'hims' he just came across, he suddenly asked, "...you do know that, don't you?" Hoping he wasn't going to see multiple Mokuba's wandering around, as well.

But Mokuba was now more interested in hearing about Kaiba Land, asking, "You mean, you actually built another Kaiba Land? Why'd you pick the US?"

"We can discuss this all later." JKaiba said, suddenly appearing.

"Just how many of us are there?" SMKaiba asked, now noticing MKaiba.

JKaiba put a hand on VWKaiba's shoulder, muttering, "Mokuba needs his rest...let's go."

Once VWKaiba finally agreed, the others all trickled out of Mokuba's room, slowly heading back to Kaiba's office. VWKaiba now felt bad for bothering him, saying, "Sorry, kiddo...we'll talk about this later." surprised at how well Mokuba seemed to take having multiple 'hims' wandering in and out of his room.

But Mokuba got up, saying, "Wait...I'm coming, too."

"No you're not." all the Kaiba's seemed to say at once, except for MKaiba, and looked at each other strangely.

"There's no sense for me to stay here, since I keep getting woken up every five minutes, anyway." Mokuba said.

They couldn't argue with that.

"Is it safe to leave the kitten alone in here?" MKaiba asked.

All versions of Kaiba suddenly looked over at the cat, not expecting one to be here. They all seemed to have various feelings over other animals. One didn't like animals after how Gozaburo had taught him, one was bit by an animal making him leery over them, one simply didn't like animals, and the last actually didn't mind animals but knew Gozaburo would never accept such things in the house.

VWaiba was first to speak, stating, "What's a cat doing in here? I thought we had a strict 'no pets allowed' rule."

Mokuba looked at the ground, "My Seto said I could keep her."

"And which one of us would that be, by the way?" JKaiba then asked, curious who the real Kaiba of this world was supposed to be.

Mokuba replied, "Sorry...he's not here."

Interested in that little piece of data, JKaiba made sure to keep a mental note of that for later.

"Fine...bring it with you." VWKaiba finally said, though not liking the fact that he even had a cat.

Mokuba picked up his kitten, and followed the small pack of Kaiba's.

Now outside the bedroom, JKaiba looked over at MKaiba and sighed. "You might as well come and join us, too...we won't kill you. I guess we should explain what we know is happening, so far."

Mokuba could see that most of them were avoiding him, as long as he had Tipper. Giving up, he sighed, saying, "Maybe I should just put her in her room. This way she's safe and there wont be any problems."

"I'll go with him." MKaiba offered, also noticing the others' reaction. Plus, he had a feeling if he was close to them for too long, they'd probably soon realize that he wasn't one of them.

"Fine, but make it fast. We'll be in the third floor office." JKaiba said.

After they left, VWKaiba asked, "Are you sure we can trust him?"

JKaiba smirked, "Why not? We should be able to trust him with Mokuba as much as anyone else here."

"I don't know." VWKaiba muttered, after sensing a strange vibe from MKaiba. "There's something about him. He seems different from the rest of us, somehow..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba made sure to once again put Tipper away downstairs. As he did that, MKaiba also made sure to secure the door good enough so the cat couldn't escape again.

"That'll hold her." Mokuba sniffed, and smiled up at MKaiba. "You know...you don't exactly act like the others. You must have had a really different past from them, huh?"

"Uh...yeah. I guess so." MKaiba answered, looking away shyly.

Seeing that this person obviously didn't want to say much about his history, Mokuba shrugged and they headed back upstairs.

As they joined the others in the office, MKaiba tried to keep as far away from the others and as quiet as possible, as if trying to keep anyone from even noticing he's there.

'Weird.' Mokuba thought, actually recognizing the trait. 'He kinda reminds me of me...'

Mokuba then tiredly focused on the others. And MKaiba's attempt at being invisible seemed to work well, for now.

JKaiba was the one who began the conversation, as once again they began to try and figure out what was going on, and why this was happening.


	31. C31 More Kaiba’s and trouble is starting

Clarity would like to add a special thanks to Nenya, for her possible influence towards certain parts of this chapter.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x

_**C31 More Kaiba's and trouble is starting to erupt!**_

At Kaiba Corp, another Kaiba had suddenly appeared. This Kaiba was wearing a very rich-looking white uniform, with an intricately designed collar...he wore no trench coat. He felt a strange wave of dizziness pass through him and shook it off, realizing it must be from fatigue. He had really overworked himself the last few days, but he had to...everything had to be perfect. The game was about to end on multiple levels, and he had planned on winning them all.

He looked around his office and suddenly fumed in rage. "What happened to my office? Why does it look different? Whoever's been redecorating my office will pay!" Paranoia instantly kicking in, he began to wonder why his office would look different, how he didn't notice this before, and who could be responsible?

Why he didn't notice was easy...lack of sleep. He cursed his own weakness for missing something as simple as changes in his room. But the main question was still...who did this, and why? 'Mokuba wouldn't dare do something like this. That leaves the Big 5, or Gozaburo himself...' He then smirked, thinking, 'Hmph...let the fools have their fun. This will be the last command they ever make.'

Yet, as he next walked out of his office, he realized it wasn't just the office that was different: everything was different, even the employees weren't the same. In fact, they all stared at him, as well. And it wasn't simply because they didn't know he was even in his office...they stared at him like he was some kind of alien, as if he appeared totally wrong to them. The way they looked at him, you would think he just came out of his office naked or something.

And the truth was...he did look totally different to the Kaiba they were used to. This one wore expensive white clothing, no trench coat, appeared to even look a few years younger and...his hair was green.

DTKaiba was taken off guard, not used to people staring at him like this. He struggled to keep himself composed, but turned to head back into his office. As he did, he suddenly noticed his name on the office door as president, instead of Gozaburo.

In an instant, anger and rage erupted from the young Seto Kaiba, yelling and screaming at them, demanding a proper explanation. When no answer came to satisfy him, he decided to storm back into his office room, safe from prying eyes and the insanity that seemed to be surrounding his day. But, now it wasn't just the people that were bothering him...it was much more. Kaiba could only think of one explanation as to why he would have a 'president' emblem on his door, and he paled at the very thought of it. 'Gozaburo's up to something...I know it! If he thinks he can pull a fast one on me and get away with it, he's got another thing coming! It's time to deal with him once and for all!'

DTKaiba immediately jumped on his computer, trying to find a reason for all this madness happening around him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After explaining the story again to any new Kaiba's that had recently joined them, JKaiba held up some post it notes. "This is getting confusing. Maybe we should put these on ourselves to help simplify things."

Mokuba tiredly smiled, as JKaiba said that. Even though none of them seemed to be able to tell each other apart, Mokuba could sense a very slight difference in each one. It wasn't their looks or really mannerisms...since they were basically all the same, as long as one didn't count their clothes or history.

"What do you suggest; we put our names on them? That'll help." SMKaiba smirked.

To be honest...Mokuba wasn't exactly sure how he could tell. Perhaps what he was sensing was each Kaiba's soul's connection to the world they belonged to. He had no idea how...but it was there.

"How about numbering them and sticking them to your lockets?" Mokuba then suggested. Just because he could tell, it wouldn't help make it any less confusing for them. So, he might as well allow them to try and make some kind of order to all this madness.

Some of the Kaiba's glanced over at Mokuba from the comment. Mokuba could see that some of them didn't like the idea, at all. They probably thought the idea was stupid. But then...they'd never dare say that to their own brother, either.

SMKaiba was the one to finally speak, saying, "Even if we did that, how would that help us to know which one is which?"

"It's obvious that I'd be number 1." MEKaiba said, automatically accepting Mokuba's idea, even if he thought it did sound stupid.

"And why is that obvious?" SMKaiba snapped, all ready showing signs of being competitive.

"Because I was the first one here." MEKaiba answered.

VWKaiba claimed, "That's bullshit. I was the first one here. You morons showed up, afterwards."

MEKaiba retorted, "How the hell do you figure that? We came to you because we suspected there would be more, incase you don't recall."

"...except I was the first one here." JKaiba stated. "The rest of you showed up after me."

"Bullshit!" SMKaiba retorted. "I was here first. I simply didn't find the rest of you, until later."

This argument continued to erupt between the four of them...again. Mokuba was all ready getting a headache from their arguing, yet also noticed that one was hanging back and not getting into the middle of it. It was MKaiba again...that odd one, that was different from any of the other versions of his brother.

But Mokuba couldn't take the childish yelling anymore, and finally cried out, "STOP IT!" causing everyone to stop and look at him.

MKaiba being the closest, sat down with him. "You okay?" It felt kind of strange talking to him like that, but his brother would want to make sure he was all right...whichever Seto that might be.

"No." Mokuba said. "I feel like hell and…"

"Watch your language." The four Kaiba's said.

Again, all the others said that, except the one oddball that acted out of character, which was checking on him, now. JKaiba now was also beginning to see the differences, since VWKaiba was the one to bring it up. 'Was he a spy?' JKaiba wondered. 'Perhaps he's the one responsible for all this...'

"Fine." Mokuba replied. "Look, I don't feel good as it is, and all your yelling is doing is making it 10 times worse!"

"Sorry." All four of them said.

"Good. You're #1." Mokuba said, pointing to JKaiba.

"Why does he get to be #1?" SMKaiba asked.

"Because he was here first." Mokuba replied, remember JKaiba as the first one he saw. "And you're #2." he said, continuing to give the multiple brothers numbers.

"How do you know that?" VWKaiba asked, wondering how Mokuba could tell the difference, when even they couldn't.

"And you're #3." Mokuba continued to count, giving a sticky to MEKaiba. He then turned to VWKaiba, adding, "and you're #4."

Seeing only one Kaiba left without a note, JKaiba picked up the paper and approached MKaiba, handing it to him. "I guess that makes you #5." Yet, JKaiba hesitated giving the paper to MKaiba. It was the first time he really felt the extreme difference in this one.

Instinctively, JKaiba's voice softened while speaking to him, and he felt the strange need to protect this one. And that confused him, because it made no sense at all. Any Seto Kaiba was independent at practically any age, and would have been greatly insulted to be treated otherwise. He didn't even know why he felt that urge for the moment and quickly shook it off, shocked by his own reactions towards himself. He gave the paper to him and quickly walked away.

MKaiba gave a shy smile as JKaiba handed him the note, and noticed the conflicting look in JKaiba's eyes, before he abruptly turned and moved away from him. 'I hope he doesn't realize.' MKaiba thought, now worried. For a split-second, he allowed himself the feeling of joy to be around his brother again. But he couldn't let himself do that. If they learned the truth...he wouldn't forgive himself. He didn't want to hurt anyone, especially with his problems.

"Enough of the notes." MEKaiba finally said. He turned to Mokuba, saying, "There hasn't seemed to be any more of us showing up, lately. That means, you have no other reasons to stay here. You're sick and you need your rest."

"Agreed." JKaiba nodded. "This is our problem, not yours. Go back to your room and get some rest."

"But..."

"No 'butts'." VWKaiba stated, for once all of them seeming to agree on something for a change. "Go to sleep. With any luck, you'll wake up in the morning, and this will all be over."

'Don't say that.' MKaiba thought, not wanting to lose the realistic view of his brother, so soon.

But Mokuba still argued, "But with the way you guys are arguing, I'm never gonna get any sleep, anyway!"

"Fine." JKaiba said. "Then after you're in bed, we'll move to another room to discuss the matter." All the others nodded in agreement, as JKaiba said this. "Now, let's go."

They led Mokuba from the office to Mokuba's bedroom. The four led Mokuba to his room and helped tuck him into bed. Though MKaiba stayed behind, he still gave Mokuba a small smile and waved.

"Goodnight." JKaiba said, as they turned and finally all left the room.

Outside, Mokuba could hear them arguing where to set up their meeting room. The voices started to rise, and all finally shut up at once as if remembering they were in front of Mokuba's door. Then quietly, they slipped away somewhere else.

Mokuba sighed, muttering, "Oh, yeah...this is going to work." He yawned, muttering to himself, "This night is never going to end." as he began to drift back to sleep.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

While this was happening, another consciousness came to life, studying its surroundings. Kaiba noticed something was instantly wrong. All the power and control over his virtual world had been stifled, leaving him practically helpless to do anything. He was stuck in a computer under the mercy of whoever was presently in control of the mainframe. 'This is not good' he thought, wondering what had gone wrong. He had sensed no viruses to come in and cause so much lack of control for him, nor was it possible for such things to simply stop working or be disconnected all at the same time. It would take time for things to be manually unplugged, and Kaiba would have seen it. It was like the world blinked, and he suddenly lost everything. Even the world he made inside the computer as a hobby, had to be recreated all over again.

But as KaibaS1 was trying to analyze this, Kaiba2 materialized next to him. They both stood in the virtual world, looking each other over. S1 finally said to 2, "You're me. But how is this possible? I can't be duplicated."

Kaiba2 crossed him arms, muttering, "And what makes you think I'm you, or vise versa? There can only be one me. Which means, you must be some kind of virus. Are you responsible for this?"

KaibaS1 immediately took a stance, seeing this one as a potential threat. "No. Are you? Why had my control over other systems become so greatly limited? Did you do this?"

Kaiba2 didn't answer. But S1 could now feel the changes in the system, as Kaiba2 was attempting to use the database of the computer to hack into and read him like a piece of data.

KaibaS1's instinct was not to defend, but attack and lash back violently against his opponent. After all, the best defense was a good offense...which was exactly what he did.

Kaiba2 could feel the other's more violent attacked, and immediately upped his own attack. Before long, they were ripping at each other's existences, forcefully and painfully trying to pry into their core information...their very souls.

Then at once, they both stopped...both seeming to have managed to gain enough information on the other to realize how close their history's seemed to be with each other, from what they learned.

"You did what you had to, to save him." KaibaS1 gasped, referring to Mokuba, while attempting to recover from the painful ripping into his psyche.

Kaiba2 nodded back, trying to recover from S1's own invasion into his mind. "We're not gaining anything by doing this." he finally managed to gasp out.

Both agreed to pull away from each other's minds, and allow themselves a moment to recover, also keeping the computer from crashing from all the chaos-taking place within its memory chore.

They looked each other over, as KaibaS1 said, "This isn't possible. How can there be two of us?"

"Theorizing about it is pointless." Kaiba2 stated, looking away. "One of us needs to get out of here and find out."

S1 cocked an eyebrow, saying, "It sounds like you already have an idea."

"The computers are still hooked up to the old virtual reality machines, as I'm sure you've sensed. Two of them are at Kaiba Corp, and the last one seems to have been modified into a virtual game machine at Kaiba Corp's arcade. I'll take over whoever uses the game next, and you hold his soul hostage. While I'm out, I'll hook up the cameras to the system, so you can see what's going on, and warn me if there's a problem I might miss while in human form." 2 answered.

S1 glared coldly at him, snapping, "And what makes you think I'd trust you? You get your freedom and leave...and I'm stuck here. Maybe 'I' should go."

"This is not the time to sit and bicker. If there are two of us suddenly, we need to know what's going on. And with this lack of control in our computer systems, for all we know Mokuba could be in danger, and he comes first!" Kaiba2 snapped.

S1 nodded, "All right...agreed. But you have to promise that we'll work together, before you go anywhere."

"Fine...I swear." 2 agreed.

With their purpose and plan set into motion, 2 swiftly moved to the arcade area, finding some boy playing the game. He appeared before the boy, putting himself in the image of Noah so that he wouldn't be recognized or be held responsible for what was to come next, and challenged the kid to a duel. The kid thought he was simply another player and accepted.

It didn't take long before Kaiba took the kid down, and took over his body. He pulled himself out of the seat, looked at his wallet to see his name was Philmore Radcliff, and then snuck into the arcade's back room in order to hack the system and start granting camera access to KC's mainframe, as agreed to KaibaS1.

KaibaS1 was once again gaining more control and sight to his new surroundings, once again.

Now with KaibaS1's camera control, Kaiba2 next typed a code to sneak into the back room and stole a portable computer device, used primarily for e-mailing. Leaving the back room with it unnoticed, he picked an address, and showed it to the computer camera for KaibaS1 to use, in order to communicate to Kaiba2. When that was done, he quickly left the arcade to head home and find out what was happening.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

DTKaiba slammed his fists on the table in rage, as he believed Gozaburo was responsible for changing all the passwords on the computer once again. "I know you're trying to shake me." he said calmly, then practically screamed at the monitor, "But, it's not going to work!"

It was actually a blatant lie. Inside, DTKaiba never felt more frightened. He was so close to winning the game. And then suddenly, his whole world seemed to have been changed around him. Without even his knowledge, Gozaburo seemed to have switched the rules of the game...and he wasn't even sure what the rules were, anymore. The office was changed, the passwords were different, he had his name as the CEO of Kaiba Corp plastered on the door. And there was only one reason he could think of for Gozaburo to do all this.

'He knows...he knows what you're up to!' his mind was telling him. DTKaiba grinded his teeth, as his fingers began to pound harder on the keyboard.

'And now, he's just toying with you to watch you squirm.' "No!" he snapped at himself. "It's too late for him to escape my strategy, no matter what he does. He can't take back the stocks I won!"

'But he can take Mokuba's stocks from you. If he knows what's going on, then he might have learned that part of your game, too. You can't trust Mokuba. He probably betrayed you. Gozaburo warned you...everyone is your enemy. There are no exceptions to the rules.'

"Shut up!" DTKaiba yelled at himself, pounding his fist on the table. "There is no proof of that! Mokuba can't tell him what he doesn't know, himself. He doesn't know anything about what I'm doing!"

He was certain that Gozaburo was responsible for putting a his name on the door, as a cruel joke, to try and make him squirm. He wouldn't put it past the man to try and get a rise out of him. And even though DTKaiba knew he was easily capable of breaking through the machine...what he feared was that it might simply be a diversion, as if doing this was wasting time on the real danger that his stepfather was about to throw at him.

Finally, DTKaiba was able to successfully hack in and access the Kaiba Corp files. Unfortunately, it only led to more questions. His computer was filled with all sorts of new files and folders that were never there, before.

One file was listed KL, that seemed to be schematics for a future amusement park, though still very incomplete. Another was a list of top duelist in the world, as if it was the makings of a future tournament.

DTKaiba quickly shut those files down...his fear growing even greater. It was like Gozaburo was tapping into his heart and playing with the shattered reminisce of what was left. These added files all seemed to be old dreams of his...now tainted or broken, thanks to Gozaburo's teachings. Gozaburo knew his original dreams of creating games instead of weapons, making kids all over the world happy. Was he now trying to throw that in his face, too?

"I don't care!" DTKaiba snapped, his eyes now twitching. "I will defeat you, no matter what you try and destroy of mine!"

Finally, he found the stock market reports...his only real concern. He quickly hit the stock market's update page and loaded up the latest report. And as it came up...DTKaiba turned as white as a ghost.

"What the hell is this?"

From the report, it showed that he owned 46 of all Kaiba stocks; Mokuba owned 5 and the rest were to other interests...but none of them listed Gozaburo, or the Big 5. This report in fact terrified Kaiba, because he knew what the stock report was supposed to look like...this had to be a fake. But the only one that would place a fake one in his machine was Gozaburo, himself.

It was as if Gozaburo had put it on the screen to mock him. It felt like his stepfather had somehow all ready won, and was merely playing with him. Maybe he did win Mokuba over, or maybe Mokuba's been permanently removed from the game, making his stepfather in charge of that small percent, yet a very vital part that he needed.

If that was true, then that meant...he lost the game.

"No..." DTKaiba whispered, seeing his plans suddenly crashing down around him.

Frantic and at the point of hysterics, DTKaiba wildly typed into his machine, hacking into the security surveillance for KC, looking through the different areas to find the Big 5, or his stepfather. It wasn't any concern over Mokuba that drove him in the least...only fear that he had lost the game is what ruled him.

But, he couldn't find his targets anywhere. Then in frustration, he re-hacked through the Internet into the security system of the mansion. If he could find Gozaburo and hear what he had done...then maybe he could find a solution to the trap card his stepfather had presently thrown at him...and still beat him at his own game.

This was indeed a difficult task to achieve, but if anyone could do it...Kaiba could. He blew the firewalls, and shortly after succeeded in breaking into the system. Frantically scanning through the different rooms of the mansion to find them, he first looked at Gozaburo's private office, then the kitchen, the living room, his own office, his bedroom, Mokuba's bedroom...that's where he stopped, realizing the picture he saw just a moment ago. Slowly, he clicked the camera back to his own bedroom to see himself.

'What?' he thought, forcing the camera to zoom in on himself sleeping in his bed. DTKaiba blinked a couple times. It was strange too, because this Kaiba wore a white trench coat, black turtleneck and pants, and his hair was for once his natural color...something Gozaburo would never approve of, if that was actually the real him. 'An impostor?' DTKaiba thought. 'Is this part of Gozaburo's plan? But, what does he have to gain by doing this?'

Immediately, he mentally answered 'My stocks, of course.' and he gritted his teeth. Gozaburo was cheating. He had the nerve to have someone impersonate himself, so he could buy the stocks back and transfer them back to Gozaburo.

'Very clever.' DTKaiba thought, though part of it didn't exactly add up. Why would he not try and make the impersonator look exact? Why the subtle changes, at all?

The only explanation he could think of was maybe Gozaburo had the others dress differently, to ensure that incase he found out, he couldn't simply try to blend in with the impostors. And since they were arguing so much, maybe Gozaburo didn't trust them, either.

DTKaiba then panned through a couple more areas and finally clicked on the meeting room. This picture was even more confusing. DTKaiba got a full view of 4 other look-alikes in this room, all cursing and yelling at each other, as if they were about to rip each other's throat out. Yet, they all suddenly paused and turned to the door as if hearing something.

The picture now showed his brother Mokuba tiredly coming into the room. He looked almost half asleep and seemed like he was arguing with them about something. This too seemed totally wrong for DTKaiba on so many levels. His brother 'daring' to argue with him for once and then Mokuba not seeming surprised by 4 of him...the whole thing was equally strange. 'He knows about this and didn't tell me.' he thought.

'I told you...he'll betray you, too. There's no such thing as an exception to the rule. You can't trust anyone...not even him.'

"He's working for Gozaburo." DTKaiba said, his eye twitched again, feeling a mix of fear, hate, betrayal, and confusion rising in him, as he continued to watch the scene before him.

They left the room and DTKaiba followed the scene with the security cameras, watching as they all together led him back to his bedroom, tucking him into bed and fawning over him. The very sight was shocking to DTKaiba and made him sick to his stomach to even watch...or was it? A small-buried part of him was actually unsure if he was disgusted or envious that Mokuba was offering such caring to someone else besides him.

The small voice was quickly buried, as he hissed coldly, "Is this why you betrayed me, Mokuba? You took Gozaburo's side for a few moments of 'pretend' affection? I always knew you were pathetic."

Yet, the feeling of betrayal and jealousy was bubbling up again, as his mind was insisting, 'He mine!' but again he buried those thoughts, reminding himself that Mokuba was just another pawn in the game, now. Nothing more.

But despite how much he was trying to convince himself that Mokuba didn't matter, he couldn't keep down the hatred and anger he felt towards Mokuba, for daring to betray him. Thanks to him, it looked like their stepfather was going to win.

He felt like a fool for not heeding Gozaburo's warning and not seeing Mokuba as a potential threat. He also felt equally stupid for allowing his stepfather to somehow get a step ahead of him in the game. And he had no one to blame but himself.

As these thoughts went through his head, DTKaiba's eyes danced like a feral beast, ready to pounce on the first thing that moved. They were showing the first signs of madness in them, as his body omitted raw anger, prepared to lash out at whatever dared get in his way. And the more he watched the picture of these multiple versions of him, the more angry he became.

DTKaiba slammed his fists down against the desk, snapping, "There can only be ONE me! This is unacceptable! I will not allow it! Do you hear me, stepfather? I don't know or care what your twisted game is! I will not allow this! I will destroy all of them, as well as you!"

Then DTKaiba chilled instantly, as if he was bi-polar, and began to cackle madly...watching the screen, like he was in some hypnotic trance. 'They may pretend to be me...even act like me to some level, but they are definitely not me. No...these versions of me have a definite disadvantage. These fools are obviously all weaker than me, especially if they'd rather sit around playing nurse maid to that weakling brother of mine.'

Yes...he now understood that Mokuba was to be listed as another enemy, and would be treated as such.

DTKaiba then lovingly stroked the computer screen, saying, "Dear brother...I will make sure you are the death of them all. And as punishment for your betrayal, I will make sure you join them..."

But before there could even be any plan of action, the picture suddenly became blank, once again catching him off guard. DTKaiba reared back, again fear filling him as he thought that perhaps Gozaburo had found out what he learned and was now taking action against him, once again. But what came afterwards was nothing that DTKaiba expected.

From the blank screen, words came up, saying, "Identify yourself."

"What?" Kaiba questioned out loud. Did someone hack into his computer? In frustration, Kaiba impatiently typed in, "This is Seto Kaiba. Who are you, and how did you manage to tap into my computer?"

But as soon as he hit return, he regretted it...thinking that he had made a deadly mistake identifying himself. After all, maybe this hacker had something to do with what was going on...maybe he worked for Gozaburo, as well.

"Quite simple, really...I'm 'in' your computer and my name is Seto Kaiba. Are you responsible for this?"

"For what?" DTKaiba typed back in, confused by what he was reading. 'There's another one? Inside my computer?'

"For me being here, obviously. Did you cause this?"

DTKaiba blinked, reading the screen. It was supposedly another him, trapped in the computer, asking if he was responsible. Maybe...there really are multiple versions of him. Maybe this wasn't Gozaburo's fault, after all. Then again...maybe this was part of the game, to test him.

'Well, I can test back.' he thought.

"How could I be in the computer, if I'm right here?" DTKaiba smugly asked it.

"That's what I'm trying to find out. There seems to be more than one of me, and the information in the computer isn't correct to Kaiba Corp's normal systems, either."

DTKaiba blinked. It admitted the same thing that he had been realizing, himself...the computer wasn't right. Then maybe...he was actually telling the truth. If this was a trick, why would Gozaburo admit such a thing? It didn't sound like his style.

Finally, DTKaiba began to calm, as he started to see through his paranoia to realize that maybe he wasn't seeing things correctly, at all. None of this really made sense for this to be his stepfather's fault. Why would the man demean himself to put Seto's name as president, even if it was a taunt? Why would Gozaburo hire so many people to imitate him? The more there were, the quicker they'd be discovered.

And they couldn't really be multiple versions of him, right? That's not possible, unless he was somehow cloned, or sucked out of other realities, somehow. Not to say he never saw the impossible. After all, he's all ready been sucked into a card by Yugi.

But if they really were versions of him somehow, and Gozaburo was responsible...that didn't make sense, either. Why pull multiple versions of himself to appear, and not in a controlled environment? After all...the more Seto's there were, the more they could be used against him.

But then...maybe Gozaburo wasn't responsible, at all. Maybe these things he'd been seeing are all real. Maybe there was another reason for there being multiple him's wandering around.

Suddenly, DTKaiba went from fearful to becoming wickedly optimistic. He could gang them together. He could use them to defeat Gozaburo, and then take them out, too...so there would be only one of him left in existence.

With an evil smirk on his face, DTKaiba typed, "No, I am not responsible for you being trapped in a computer. You mentioned there's more of you. Are there just one of you inside of there, or more?"

"There are two of us, though the other had presently taken over another's body through the virtual reality system, in order to figure out what's going on. And I know you're not responsible for us being in a computer. We were presently trying to figure out why our system seemed so limited, but now it makes at least some sense. Neither of us must be in our own systems, anymore. Could we all have possibly ended up in some kind of...other world? But that doesn't make sense."

'Did he say 'virtual reality' system?' DTKaiba thought. Pushing that information aside for now, he kept on the present subject. DTKaiba gave a smirk and typed in, "Who cares what makes sense? We're here and might as well try and find a way to deal with it. So, you were already aware of being stuck in a machine. May I ask how you managed such a feat?"

"In both cases, Mokuba was dying. We did what we had to in order to prevent that from happening."

DTKaiba blinked at the screen, as anger welled up in him once again. He pounded on the computer, screaming at it, "That's a lie!" being reminded of the scene he saw back at the mansion, with all those other Kaiba's hovering over Mokuba protectively, like a wounded pup. It took him a minute to calm himself down, and try to think of the best response to what this 'computer' Kaiba had said. After all, brother or no, Mokuba knew the consequences for weakness...if he was dying, he probably deserved what he got. As he considered what to type, another response came, asking, "Are you still there?"

DTKaiba realized he had to reply soon. But at the same time, he wasn't going to let this one know how he felt. The less this Kaiba knew about himself, the better. 'This Kaiba is obviously just as weak and pathetic as the others' he thought. Then with a satisfied smirk, he added to his thoughts, 'That's why I'll win.' "I'm here. Yes...I understand perfectly." he finally typed in, quite amused by his own response. "In fact, I have a plan to help us all out. Can you still communicate to the other Kaiba that escaped the computer?"

"Yes, he set up a hand-held to communicate with. He also got the cameras from the arcade connected to my system, so I'm not completely in the dark. Perhaps we can help each other to get back home. Can you setup the cameras on your side over there?"

"Of course I can." DTKaiba typed back. "But why simply go for trying to get back, when you can have more than that?"

There was a long pause on the other end, before the computer responded back, "Explain yourself."


	32. C32 A Simple Matter of Trust

_C32 A Simple Matter of Trust_

JKaiba #1

SMKaiba #2

MEKaiba #3

VWKaiba #4

MKaiba #5

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

"_Wouldn't you like to go back home to see your brother in your own body again? There are two of you in the computer system, and we have at least five or more versions of us wandering around the mansion. We can team up and work together. I'll give you the necessary hookups, and with our combined efforts, we'll capture two Kaiba's for the two of you to take over. Technically, you'll be back in your own bodies."_ DTKaiba typed in.

There was a long pause, which bothered DTKaiba, so he added in, _"Don't tell me you're feeling guilt towards the other Kaiba's over this. As I'm sure you know, if they're too stupid to keep themselves from harm, then they deserve their fate."_

"_That's not my concern."_ KaibaS1 answered. _"I'm simply curious why you're willing to do this. What's in it for you?"_

DTKaiba smirked, typing back, _"Let's just say I'm not too comfortable having at least five other versions of me floating around here, other than myself. The less I have to worry about, the better. I don't trust any of them and I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own company. At least if I help the two of you, I can guarantee I have two other versions of myself on my side, for one main reason...you will both owe me."_

"_Makes sense."_ KaibaS1 responded, accepting that as a valid reason. _"I'll inform the other Kaiba. The plan sounds reasonable, so far. Where can he meet you?"_

"_Tell him to meet me at Kaiba Corp. Fortunately, I seem to be the only one here."_ DTKaiba answered.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at Yugi's...they finally got Joey to stop laughing at Seto, and were presently trying to figure out what to do.

"So what exactly do we do with him?" Angie asked.

"I'd suggest we keep him here, for now...at least until we can figure out what's going on." Yugi said. "Maybe I can call and get a hold of Kaiba, to try and see if anymore appeared over there."

"Uh...what do you mean?" Seto asked. "And why would you call Kaiba? He's right here." Seto added, pointing at Joey again.

"Don't even start that again! You're Kaiba, don'cha get it??" Joey said.

Seto blinked at Joey a couple times, and then he started into a fit of laugher. "Oh, man...if I can just record this!!"

"That's it!" Joey said, and again they had to hold Joey back from attacking Seto again.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At the mansion, the Kaiba's decided to set their new meeting place up in the living room, since it was downstairs and quite far from earshot to ensure Mokuba would not be disturbed. As they headed that way, they paused and looked towards the phone that had begun to ring.

Immediately, they all looked at each other, every one of them expecting one of the others to get the phone besides themselves. Finally, they all shrugged and agreed at the same time, "Let the answering machine get it."

JKaiba then nodded, saying, "Agreed, we have better things to do with our time." With that, they all continued towards the living room, completely ignoring the phone.

The only one that lingered behind was MKaiba, who had been fighting the urge not to answer, in order to not stand out in the crowd that were his brothers. He paused, looking at the phone for the moment. Then immediately, he turned and scurried away to follow the others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Yugi put the phone down, saying, "There's no answer."

"Well, mebbe he was replaced by that 'weird' Kaiba, then...thank god for that!" Joey spit out.

"But, Joey...if he was replaced, then why isn't Mokuba picking up? And does that mean he's all alone??" Angie asked with worry.

"Mokuba? Ahh...don't worry about him, he can take care of himself." Seto said, picking himself off the floor, after finishing his laughing fit.

"What? Don't you even care about your own brother??" Joey asked in shock.

Seto immediately got angry, snapping, "Listen, 'Kaiba'...at least I don't have some psycho sister trying to torture people on a daily basis! Me and Mokuba may not always get along, but he's always there for me when I need him...got it??"

"Psycho sister??! You got some nerve, pal! And STOP calling me Kaiba!!" Joey yelled, ready to lunge again.

But Tristan suddenly blurted, "Did you say Mokuba's there for you?? Aren't you the older brother??"

"...so??" Seto asked, looking sheepish for a moment. He always hated to admit that Mokuba was the tougher one.

But the up-coming next argument was fortunately cut off, to everyone's relief, as Yugi said, "I'm on the phone! Shhh!!" Yugi had next decided to dial Kaiba Corp directly, to see if anyone answered over there.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

While...KaibaS1 communicated to 'Philmore' about the help that was offered to him from yet another Kaiba, for them to get bodies of their own.

By this time, Philmore had reached the outside grounds of the mansion in back, searching for the best way in. He typed back, _"That makes no sense. It's one thing if he too needed a body. But, why would he help us, when there's a risk that he may become a target for us to snatch him?"_

"_Maybe that's the point."_ KaibaS1 replied. _"After all, if he's helping us, we would have little reason to pick him as a target. He's probably trying to ensure his own survival."_

Philmore had a bad feeling about this, but typed in, _"Very well. Has he done his part yet?"_

"_Yes, I presently have full view of the mansion inside and out, as well as complete camera control."_ KaibaS1 answered. _"So far, he seems to have been telling the truth about the other Kaiba's. I'm seeing a total of 5 others, just as he said. I'm still waiting for him to finish with the cameras at Kaiba Corp, but these things do take time."_

Philmore paused, thinking about that. _"You said he's at Kaiba Corp. Shouldn't he be able to do that first?"_

"_He's probably as leery about us as we are of him. It would certainly make sense. But, from what he's done so far and what he's offering, I'd say he's worth the risk."_

Talking about what's being offered, Philmore looked down, thinking, 'Mokuba...' To have a chance to see him, touch him, hug his own brother. How long had it been since he'd last had the chance to do that? Whatever the news reports to slander his return from the dead, it would be more than worth it to be with his brother again, alive and in the flesh. There was a strange twinge of guilt too, thinking of the other Kaiba's that would lose from it. But, he believed the same thing that KaibaS1 had relayed to him from DTKaiba...it's not their fault if these other Kaiba's are too inept to hold onto their own bodies. So, they'll simply trap two of them into a virtual blip in the computer, then find a way out and go back home, living their lives to the fullest.

"_Fine...inform this other Kaiba I'm on my way. And have him inform the receptionist that he's looking for a kid by the name of Philmore."_

"_Nice name."_ KaibaS1 replied.

Philmore glared at the receiver, and typed back, _"I didn't really have a choice in identities to take over."_ As it was, it felt so amazing for KaibaS2 to be experiencing what he was. It must have been years since he'd been able to feel anything. And now here he was in a body...any body. It was incredible to feel 'anything' even the feel of his own skin. Shaking off his distraction, he quickly hurried off, heading next towards the destination of Kaiba Corp.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After placing full control of the mansion's security to the computer, DTKaiba was going through all his files, quickly updating himself on everything about this world, finally beginning to accept he was no longer in his own world...or at least not in the reality he thought he was in.

He had begun to cackle madly at least more than once now, especially after seeing a newspaper article on Gozaburo's morgue files, claiming that he fell to his death after jumping out the highest floor of the Kaiba Corp skyscraper. The second file he read was of the Big 5's sudden untimely death, after all their bodies had gone into a mysterious coma. It was believed that it happened from a company experiment, but ironically since during that time the Big 5 was in the process of a hostile take-over and was in charge, Kaiba Corp was not held liable. And since they could no longer run the company, Seto Kaiba became the sole owner, and willingly bought up the remaining stocks from them, that their relatives gladly took the money on for pay-off.

Of course, DTKaiba assumed he killed them all to take total control...it was the logical thing to do, to stab whoever he had to in the back to gain as much power as possible. It's how the game is played.

And with that thought, reality was finally beginning to slap him in the face. He was in charge, he really was in total control of Kaiba Corp, and there was no power above him to limit or stand in his way. Again, his eyes began to twitch...but this time instead of throwing a tantrum like last time, he began to cackle hysterically, like a crazed madman. "All of Kaiba Corp's power is MINE! Hahahahahaha!!!"

DTKaiba's moment of hysteria was momentarily cut short though, as the secretary called him, saying, "Mr. Kaiba, there is a Yugi Motou who is calling. Do you wish to take it, sir?"

'Yugi??' DTKaiba thought, grinning madly. He snapped at her, "That's MASTER Kaiba to you!!" he snapped loudly at his secretary, sneering insanely. Then switching moods again as if someone had turned off a light switch, he said in a perfectly calm and composed voice, "Yugi? Fine...put him on."

'This could be interesting.' he thought to himself, as he picked up the phone, keeping the video off.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Uh...Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"Of course...who else would it be?" DTKaiba answered him.

"Yeah, uh...I'm surprised you're over there. Is Mokuba with you?" Yugi asked.

The Kaiba on the other side snapped, "I thought you called to talk to me, 'not' my brother!"

"Is that him? I mean...the normal one?" Joey asked.

Yugi covered the mouthpiece, whispering, "Well, he sounds pretty normal." After all, everyone was used to Kaiba sounding in a bad mood.

Yugi quickly got back on, saying, "Sorry. Uh...are you aware of the, well...problem going on?"

"And what problem would that be?" DTKaiba asked, his voice even, revealing nothing.

"Well, you may not be aware of it...but there seems to be multiple you's." Yugi flinched, assuming he was going to hear Kaiba telling him how ridiculous that sounded.

"I am aware of everything, Yugi. Are you questioning my intelligence??" Kaiba asked coldly.

"N-no...not at all!" Yugi quickly said. "I just wasn't sure if you knew there was one...over here at the game shop."

There was a pause, before DTKaiba answered, "...is that so?" not exactly admitting not knowing, but not claiming to know, either.

"Yeah, so...what do you want us to do with him?" Yugi asked, assuming that meant he didn't know.

A cold sneer slid easily onto DTKaiba's face, as he answered in an almost soothing delicate voice, "Why don't you bring him over here, Yugi. I wanted to see you about something, anyway."

"You did? Well...what do you need?" Yugi asked.

"As I'm sure you know, we haven't always gotten off on the right foot. I wanted to find a way to make it up to you, somehow. There's a new game I recently made, and I would really like you to be first one to try it out."

"A game?" Yugi asked, his eyes perking open wider with interest. In fact, those words even drew the Pharaoh's attention, as he began to listen with an equal amount of interest.

"That's right. It's still...in the experimental stage. But, someone as skilled as you, Yugi...I'm sure you'd have no problem with it. If anyone could properly test my new creation, I'm confident you could."

Yugi swelled with pride, and smiled brightly, saying, "Well...thanks, Kaiba! I don't know what to say!"

"You don't need to say anything, Yugi...just come over. And bring that other version of me with you. I have the perfect idea how to deal with this situation." Kaiba answered, and hung up the phone.

Yugi hung up, saying, "Wow! It looks like Kaiba has it all under control!"

"And how'd he manage that?" Joey asked, suspicious.

"I'm not sure...he didn't say. But, he seems to think he has a way of taking care of what's going on." Yugi said. He grew in excitement, saying, "He also said he has a new game that he wanted me to try out!"

Angie rolled her eyes, saying, "Yugi, we can't be wasting our time on games right now. We have to fix this problem."

Inside, the Pharaoh winced at the thought of not having a chance at playing this new game. Yugi pouted as well, saying, "But...but Kaiba thinks..."

"Since when do we listen to Kaiba?" Joey snapped, causing Seto to eye Joey again, wondering why he kept talking about Kaiba in the third person, and getting angry when called by his own name. And why was Kaiba accusing 'him' of being Kaiba, anyway? This whole thing was getting confusing, and he decided maybe he should sneak out while he can, and go find his brother. Mokuba always knew what to do...

Tea said, "Yugi, we really should check out Kaiba's mansion too, to make sure there aren't any other Kaiba's over there, and see if Mokuba's still over there as well."

Yugi sighed, saying, "You're right."

But Yugi was interrupted, as Tristan blurted out, "Where do you think 'you're' going??"

Everyone turned to see Seto attempting to sneak out, and froze in his place as he was caught.

"Uh...uh..." he stammered, "You said we should look for Mokuba. So, I was...looking for him??"

As Tristan grabbed Seto, Yugi said, "Kaiba said I should bring the other Kaiba over to Kaiba Corp. So, why don't I do that, and the rest of you can check on Mokuba?"

Tea smiled, saying, "Why don't we all to the mansion first, instead?"

"But...how come?" Yugi asked.

Joey smiled, saying, "Cuz we know you, that's why. You'll be thinking more on playing some game with Kaiba. No offense, Yug...but I really don't want more than one Kaiba hanging around, if we can avoid it."

"I agree!" said Seto, still thinking Joey was Kaiba.

"You're right." Yugi said.

/I don't see the problem/, Yami argued.

Yugi replied/It's our fault this is happening, Yami. We have to focus on that, first./

Yami grudgingly agreed, knowing Yugi was right, while being guilted out of trying a new game with Kaiba. Yugi then turned back, saying, "Then, let's do this...Tristan and Tea can join me at the mansion to make sure Mokuba's okay. Then, Joey...you and Angie can take Seto over to Kaiba Corp."

"What?? ME BE WITH KAIBA?? NO WAY!!" both Seto and Joey said at the same time. Joey then growled at Seto, who leapt back. Joey paused and blinked at the cringing Seto, and suddenly grinned, saying, "You know...I'm kinda starting to like this Kaiba."

Everyone looked over at the two, and mutually decided Joey with Seto was too dangerous. Seto may not make it in one piece, if Joey tried to take advantage of the situation. So instead, Yugi looked over and said, "Hey Tristan...maybe you should bring Seto over there with Angie, instead."

"I'm on it." Tristan said, and grabbed hold of Seto's arm. "Don't worry, man...you're in good hands with me." As Tristan did that, Angie followed.

"Hey no prob, Tristan. You're my best bud!" Seto said, acting friendly as everyone else as he left with Tristan, and Angie.

"HE is??" Joey snapped, feeling an odd sense of jealously. "Tristan's 'my' pal!"

Yugi groaned, "Relax, Joey...he won't be staying long. Let's get going."

Tristan and Angie left for Kaiba Corp with Seto, as all the rest of the group headed to the mansion, in search of Mokuba.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In the living room of the mansion, three of the Kaiba's were arguing with each other...again. At least this time, they were in the living room, far from the bedrooms. That way, if they argued, the chance of hitting Mokuba's earshot was pretty much nil.

The two that weren't were MKabia and JKaiba. MKaiba was huddled on the couch, being as quiet as possible and pretending he wasn't there, while silently watching the scene.

And JKaiba was presently on a laptop, who was frantically searching through its data. He leaned back in the chair, hands locked together and against his mouth, as he studied the screen intently. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed, snapping, "Will you all 'shut up'?? I can't concentrate with this constant bickering! This is worst than one of my board meetings!!"

SMKaiba slammed his hands next to the laptop, hissing angrily, "And what makes you think you're going to find anything useful on there?"

"Guaranteed this is Yugi's fault!" MEKaiba snapped, taking JKaiba's side.

VWKaiba smirked, taunting MEKaiba as he said, "I thought you didn't believe in magic."

"Shut up!" MEKaiba snapped coldly at him. "Maybe you have a better theory how there are 5 of us wandering around??"

SMKaiba stated, "Maybe we should speak to Mokuba about this. He seems to know more about this than we do."

"He's sleeping! We're not going to bother him again, or he'll never get better!" VWKaiba snapped.

MEKaiba suddenly asked, "Do we know if he's due for his medicine again? Maybe one of us should be checking on him..."

"Don't even think about it." JKaiba said to MEKaiba coldly, still not trusting him.

SMKaiba added, "I already checked on him earlier. He wont need another dosage until tomorrow."

VWKaiba glanced suspiciously over at JKaiba, asking, "And what's the problem with one of us checking on him?"

Before JKaiba could offer his suspicions, MEKaiba quickly said, "Possessiveness, of course. Don't act surprised." he smirked, covering to make sure no accusations came out in the open, to avoid more suspicion. As he did, MKaiba looked at him strangely, knowing his brother well enough to understand he was trying to hide something.

JKaiba looked back at the screen, saying, "Anyway...I agree with #4. Thinking that this is magically related, is totally preposterous. Out of all of us, I think it's rather interesting to find that the Seto Kaiba from this world is no where to be found."

All of them quieted at once, thinking about that. SMKaiba was the one to ask, "What does that mean?"

VWKaiba stated, "You think the original Seto Kaiba from this world is responsible?"

"Seto would never do something like this!" MKaiba suddenly blurted, causing all the other Kaiba's to shut up at once and look at him.

'Boy, you blew it now.' MKaiba thought nervously, and quickly said, "I meant...we would never do something like that."

He could feel all the suspicious stares from the other. But as much as they suspected a difference in this Kaiba, they equally had an odd sense that they could trust him. It was the reason they all decided to conveniently ignore the comment for the moment, and turn back to what they were saying.

The close family bonding vibes JKaiba kept feeling from MKaiba practically unnerved him, and he decided to ignore MKaiba completely for the moment, as if he wasn't even there. So instead, he turned to VWKaiba and answered his question, stating, "It would certainly explain a lot."

JKaiba then looked down and continued his search, as he added, "Perhaps he was experimenting on something that caused this to happen. Either way, I find the possibility of a technological device creating this dimensional rift a hell of a lot more believable than some 'magical voodoo' causing this incident."

MEKaiba snapped irritably, "I didn't say I believed it, either! All I know is when Yugi's around, all hell seems to break loose. It seemed logical for the moment. Besides...did you find any new experiments in the files that indicate anything like that?"

"...not yet." JKaiba said, also refusing to admit that Yugi and his friends seemed to know a lot about this, as well. But he'd be damned before he believed in such a ridiculous theory as magic. It had to be the original Kaiba's fault for this, accidental or otherwise.

"Then there's still no proof to back up your claim." MEKaiba said, causing JKaiba to glare coldly at him, since he already had less love for him than any other of his own versions.

MEKaiba hesitated, then finally turned, saying, "I'll go check the paperwork and see if there's anything to find there."

"No! You stay!" JKaiba said coldly. "2 and 4...you two go check the files in the office and bedroom. Come back with anything you find."

"Yes 'master'." SMKaiba sarcastically taunted, leaving the room. VWKaiba also glared, but was more curious as to why JKaiba was targeting against MEKaiba so much. He was equally curious about MKaiba. But just like JKaiba, he found it more comfortable to ignore it at the moment. So, VWKaiba finally turned and left with the other one.

MEKaiba was about to go off on JKaiba on his attitude towards him, when suddenly the doorbell rang. MEKaiba looked over at the door, then glared down at JKaiba, snapping, "Do I have permission to get the door, or is that a problem, too??"

"Be my guest." JKaiba said smoothly, as if there had been no problem, at all.

MEKaiba stormed over to the door, and whipped the door open quickly to see Yugi, Joey, and Tea. Joey jumped back nervously, not expecting to see a Kaiba come to the door. But, he began to relax as he noticed this one was wearing the normal dark blue trench coat.

Joey immediately slumped on MEKaiba, saying, "Oh, thank god your back! You have no idea what we had to go through!"

Kaiba glared coldly at Joey, for daring to put a hand on him. He shrugged him off violently, as he snapped, "Get your hands off me, Mutt!"

Joey laughed, saying, "Yeah, he's Kaiba all right!"

Yugi asked, "Kaiba, why didn't you answer the phone?"

"That's what answering machines are for. Besides...I'm busy. And right now, you and your little geek group are bugging me. So, get to the point and get out." MEKaiba snapped.

"Well...when no one answered, we were worried that Mokuba was left alone." Yugi said.

MEKaiba offered a smirk at that, saying, "You don't have to worry about that. Mokuba is hardly alone." thinking about the small army of Kaiba's presently here.

"Oh. Well...how did it go, btw?" Yugi asked.

MEKaiba blinked, curious about what he was talking about, before asking, "How did 'what' go?" wondering if this had something to do with JKaiba's theory on this being an experiment going awry.

"You traveling to that other world, of course." Yugi asked.

MEKaiba glared coldly, then opened the door fully, saying, "We can discuss that inside. The living room is 'that' way." MEKaiba pointed towards the living room, his voice offering no chance of arguing, otherwise.

The others looked over at Yugi, who swallowed guiltily...having a bad feeling that Kaiba new of the other Kaiba's, and that Yugi was responsible for this whole mess. Yugi had also believed he was facing the real Kaiba, and figured he had a lot of explaining to do. Why else would Kaiba invite them in his home?

But, as they headed into the living room, everyone froze in place. There was another Kaiba typing on the laptop in a white trench coat, who looked up seeing others approaching. His eyes narrowed seeing it was Yugi's group, and he snapped, "What did you bring 'them' over here for?"

MEKaiba answered, "They seem to have knowledge about what's going on. Why else would I let them in?"

Joey swallowed, noticing the same colored trench coat on a couple of them, and hoping one of them wasn't the same guy as earlier.


	33. C33 A Plan Set into Motion

_C33 A Plan Set into Motion_

Although he couldn't understand why, DTKaiba had easily noticed that he seemed to stand out compared to the other versions of him. They dressed similar to each other...and none of them looked remotely like him. 'That's because I'm superior.' he thought.

But, that wasn't the point. He had a game to win...and standing out in a crowd was not going to help in this particular case. Which meant, he would have to somehow blend in with the other Kaiba's. It was the reason he had all ready been avoiding cameras and not yet connecting the computer with Kaiba Corp's security system. If there was any chance that his outfit could give away his possibility of betraying them, he couldn't afford that to happen.

He also had to make sure the way he dressed didn't confuse his workers. If he was supposed to look like the other Kaiba's, it's no wonder they were all looking at him strangely, since he was so different in appearance. This would ensure the help didn't turn on him or accuse him of being an imposter. The last thing he needed was having them question if he was the 'real' Kaiba or not, while in the middle of his plan to take out the others.

So, checking his spare closet, he found a few pairs of silk clothing and slacks, as well as some casual boots. There was also a dark blue trench coat, and a black one. Deciding on which new style to go with, DTKaiba decided on the black one, with a silk shirt, pants and shoes. Then going to the office shower, he also washed all the dye from his hair, to look as normal as the others as possible. He got dressed in his new clothes and looked himself over. It was so strange looking at himself in the mirror with his own natural hair-color. He felt like it had been ages since he saw himself like that. He in fact despised it, because it reminded him of what he looked like back when he was in the orphanage...weak, and pathetic. He hated being reminded of those days.

'It doesn't matter...this is all mine, now. And nothing can take it away from me!'

Heading back to his office room, DTKaiba now hacked into the system again, this time unlocking all the security of Kaiba Corp and putting it into the control of the computer. He gave a cold sneer at that, then picked up the phone.

"Lab 4 here...Smith speaking." a man said.

"Is the virtual reality machine ready?" DTKaiba asked.

"Absolutely, sir." Smith answered.

"Good." DTKaiba said and hung up.

Then with another call, a man answered, "Security."

"You have the room ready as I instructed?" DTKaiba asked.

"Yes, sir...all ready." the man said.

"Excellent." DTKaiba repeated and hung up. DTKaiba then stood, and walked over to the huge picture window. He skimmed across the window's edge, entranced for a moment as he wondered if this was the very window that Gozaburo launched himself from. He glanced casually outside at the city surrounding him below.

"Yugi...soon you will be mine." he said coldly, waiting in a barely contained anticipation for his greatest rival to come. He grinned coldly, thinking, 'And I'm going to have one version of me take you over completely, before I destroy him as well. Somehow, you escaped me in Death-T. But, perhaps trapping you forever helpless in a machine could be just as amusing...' DTKaiba then cackled again.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Tristan arrived at Kaiba Corp, with Angie and Seto. Seto looked around nervous, thinking of Joseph Kaiba again. He didn't understand why Kaiba acted so strange, nor why Yugi and the gang acted so friendly around the guy. He was the coldest most ruthless person he knew. He was sure it had to be an act, and Kaiba was just 'pretending' to be nice to fool them all. If only Mokuba was here, he was sure his brother would know what to do. Seto had in fact begged Tristan and Angie to find Mokuba first before going here, but they insisted he was sick. Seto didn't remember him being sick, but then Mokuba didn't say too much to him, anyway. One problem about his tough younger brother, the kid always looked down on him like a burden...they never did get along well. But when it came down to it, Mokuba was still there to help him out.

"Can I help you?" the secretary asked, looking them over.

Tristan approached, saying, "Yeah, the name's Tristan...uh, what's your name?" he smiled, giving her a wink.

The secretary didn't look very impressed, as Angie quickly shoved him aside, saying, "We're here to see Kaiba."

"What?? Kaiba?? I don't wanna see him!!" Seto cried, as Tristan quickly grabbed a hold of him, to shut him up.

Eyeing them with disinterest, she asked boredly, "Do you have an appointment?" tempted to call security. The only reason she didn't yet was because she was told to look for an odd group coming in to see Kaiba. Now she had to make sure they were the right ones.

One could never be too careful, after all.

"He's expecting us. I'm Angie, this is Tristan, and this is, uh...well, a friend of ours." Angie said, deciding not to mention his name, to be on the safe said.

The secretary looked at the list, and said, "I'm sorry, I don't see your name."

"Wait a minute! He was expecting Yugi to be with us!" Tristan finally blurted.

This seemed to perk the secretary's attention, as she asked, "Do you mean Yugi Motou? He is on the list. But, is he with you?"

"Uh...he's going to be here in a little while. Could you just tell Kaiba that we're here with our, uh...special guest? He should know what we're talking about." Angie said.

The secretary sighed, and paged Kaiba's office. They heard him snap on the other side coldly, "What is it?"

"Mr. Kaiba, Yugi's friends are here to see you, sir." the secretary answered.

There was a moment's pause, before Kaiba asked, "What do you mean, Yugi's 'friends'? Where's Yugi??"

Tristan suddenly jumped at the speaker, saying, "Hey Kaiba, it's Tristan. Listen...Yugi should be coming up in a little while. He just stopped at your house first to make sure there's no other, uh...well you know, 'special guests'."

"He WHAT???" Kaiba boomed over the speakerphone, freezing Tristan with fear.

"Uh, well since you had something to reverse the problem, Yugi just thought it would be good to make sure there are no stragglers...you know?" Tristan swallowed nervously, not enjoying being around Kaiba, when he was in a bad mood.

While...Seto had been listening to the voice on the other side, thinking, 'He doesn't sound like Kaiba. Something weird is really going on. Maybe this whole thing is a big dream...that would certainly explain things.'

He then looked around the office aimlessly, looking for something interesting to stare at. As he did, he stopped at some large statues of Blue Eyes White Dragons. Seto's jaw dropped, whispering, "Wow...I wish I could see one of those cards." He knew that Joseph Kaiba had those cards...but he never used them, always keeping the four of them stored up. The very thought of it pissed him off, 'One of them belonged to Yugi's grandpa...he had no right to take it!'

Seto's attention was returned, as Tristan said, "Hey Seto, wake up! We're going!"

"Uh...going where?" Seto asked, wondering what he missed after zoning out.

Angie said, "Kaiba said we could come up and see him. Come on!"

"Shouldn't we...'not' trust this guy? I mean, he 'is' Kaiba...right?" Seto asked.

Tristan laughed, saying, "He's not who you think he is, and I think we can trust him with this. He's just trying to help fix the problem."

They were led by security to the elevator and brought to one of the higher levels of the building. From there, they were brought to the lab, where a virtual reality system was set up. This large version was a massive machine with pod-like chairs encircling it. Tristan said, "Huh? What are we doing here?"

Angie was equally curious about this, while Seto had absolutely no clue where he was. From behind the vast machine, DTKaiba came out with the most eerie smile on his face, rubbing his finger across the unit with almost personal admiration. He then looked towards them, saying, "It's quite a design, isn't it? Made from my own personal genius, of course."

"Uh...you don't seem like the Kaiba from this world." Angie said.

The calm cold smile never left his face, as he said, "Maybe that's because I'm not. But there's no cause for concern about that. After all, whichever one of us you deal with, we will always have the brains and power to handle any situation...including this one."

"That may not exactly be true...I think this version of you might be an exception to that idea." Tristan said, directing his example towards Seto.

DTKaiba glared over at the longhaired bum in front of him. The long hair looked a lot like Mokuba's hairstyle, only a dark chocolate brown. The guy looked at DTKaiba dumbfounded, saying, "Uh...you don't look like Kaiba to me."

DTKaiba looked unamused, asking, "Are you sure this person is even a version of me? He looks nothing like it."

Seto blinked, wondering what this guy was talking about. 'A version of him? What is he talking about? Is he saying that...that, I'm him???' Seto began to draw his face closer to DTKaiba, in order to better study him.

But that seemed to greatly annoy the man, as he harshly shoved him away, snapping, "Get out of my face! Idiot!" DTKaiba then turned his back on them, adding coldly, "Put him in one of the virtual reality pods, and make it quick. I have things to do."

"Uh...why in there?" Tristan asked.

"I had the machine modified, so it can find his dimensional pattern, and bring him to where he belongs." DTKaiba stated.

"Oh...okay." Tristan said. "Come on, Seto."

"Dimension...what? Yeah, uh...I guess so." He shrugged, having no idea what they were talking about, and just followed along.

As Tristan helped Seto into the unit, Angie turned and asked, "But if this can take you home, why didn't you send yourself back?"

"Simple...I wanted to make sure any other possible versions of me were taken care of first. Since the original Seto Kaiba has not yet been seen, someone has to be here to handle the job." DTKaiba answered with disinterest.

DTKaiba then moved behind the machine, turning it on to allow KaibaS1 the freedom to transfer himself into anyone sitting in any of the seats. But, right after activating it, he also typed in quickly, _"Don't take over this one...I have a better idea. Why don't we have you instead take over the pointed-headed one? We can then use you as the perfect spy to help us gather the others at the mansion."_

"_Why the change of plans? This one was supposed to be mine."_ it replied to him.

DTKaiba typed in, _"You're right...there was a change in plans. Yugi didn't come over, like we expected. He went over to the mansion, instead. I need someone to get close to them in order to make sure they're not suspecting anything. Besides, do you really want to get into a version of yourself that looks like some stupid longhaired freak? The other ones are much more presentable...we can give this one to the other computer version. If you go over there as one of Yugi's friends, you can stall them - giving us time to get security over there and finish dealing with the problem at hand."_

"_Fine, I don't care what I get right now, as long as it's something..."_

DTKaiba then pressed a now flashing button and stepped away from the console, saying, "This is going to take a little while. In the meantime, why don't you two make yourselves at home?"

Before they could say anything, some guards came in and surrounded the two. They looked shocked, as Tristan asked, "What the hell is going on??"

Angie snapped, "Kaiba, what is the meaning of this??"

"Exactly what I told you...I plan on getting rid of all the other problem appearances that came up, one way or another. And there is no way I am going to let you two nobody's interfere." DTKaiba answered. Then with a smirk, he added, "In fact, I plan on your pointy-headed friend to help me."

"Help YOU? I don't know what your plans are, Kaiba...but there is no way I'm helping you!" Tristan snapped. Quickly, the security knocked the guy out. Angie cried out to him, but was held fast by the other security, as Tristan was dragged to another pod on DTKaiba's command.

DTKaiba then sneered, saying, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter. Though I normally prefer to do things myself, I decided this time to recruit a few allies to my cause..."

Angie looked afraid, asking, "What do you mean?"

"You'll see in a minute." DTKaiba said, watching with his own twisted interest. As Tristan was hooked up, the machine came to life...

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Tristan could feel himself being sucked into the machine. 'This must have been what it felt like to the others, when they got stuck in that machine by the Big 5!' Tristan thought.

Before Tristan knew what happened to himself, he was on his hands and knees on solid ground...it even looked like the similar adventure game that the others were in. There was a fantasy kingdom ahead, and forest behind him.

"By all means, do make yourself comfortable." Kaiba's voice said, suddenly behind him.

Tristan whirled around to see someone that looked just like the normal Kaiba, except he too wore a white trench coat...kind of like the one that was hitting on Joey earlier. "You're not the same Kaiba that shoved me in that seat. Where did you come from? And...where is this?"

"You're inside of the Kaiba Corp's mainframe computer. This is the original Virtual Reality program that was made by me, before it was permanently decommissioned...after the Big 5 got a hold of it, that is." KaibaS1 said.

Tristan looked around, saying, "But...what am I doing in here?"

KaibaS1's eyes narrowed, saying, "Understand, this is nothing personal...but I have a job to do." KaibaS1 then touched him, and he felt himself leave his body, as this other version of Kaiba took over.

'Now what to do with you?' he thought. He couldn't put Yugi's friend into anything that could endanger the computer, or threaten their mission. KaibaS1 then came up with a rather evil thought in mind. It was cruel...but so worth it.

"Here...you can stay in this form, for now." he mused. With the snap of his fingers, Tristan took on the form of an acrobat monkey.

The monkey looked around, muttering, "Hey (oo-oo!), what happened to me?"

A mirror appeared before Tristan, as Kaiba smirked, "I thought it would be fitting for you. Since you've already taken on this form before, I thought you'd feel right at home..."

"I...I look like some kind of robotic ape!!" Tristan spazzed out. "What do you mean I looked like this before?? I was never an ape! Are you crazy? Just put me back!!"

"You weren't? Interesting...this universe must be based more in past, then. Well...give it time, you'll see soon enough." KaibaS1 smirked. In an instant, KaibaS1 took the form of Tristan, shocking the little monkey even more.

The robot monkey spat out, "Hey! That's me! Give me my body baack!!!" Tristan cried out, jumping and leaping. But the 'new' Tristan didn't stick around, instead leaving the computer system...leaving poor monkey all alone, with no idea what to do. He finally gave up, feeling pitiful. "I'm all alone...what do I do, now?"

"You're not all alone." a little Kuriboh hopped over.

"A talking Kuriboh?" Tristan asked.

The Kuriboh shook his head, saying, "No...my name's Philmore. I was playing a virtual world game at Kaiba Corp arcade, when I suddenly appeared here. At least there's someone else to talk to, now."

Tristan groaned, feeling just as helpless.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Though unconscious, Tristan seemed to tense up for a minute then relax. After that, Tristan opened his eyes. Angie stuttered, "T-Tristan? Are you okay??"

DTKaiba nodded for the guards to back away from the pod, allowing Tristan to get up on his own, once the machine released him. He stood and looked around.

The rush was so intense. KaibaS1 wanted to do everything right then and now. He even had the weird urge to want and hug the other self for helping him get this chance to be human again. But, he couldn't...no, he wouldn't. His pride would never allow him to act so unlike himself, especially not in front of another version of himself. He would not humiliate himself that way, nor show any sign of weakness. He looked himself over casually, then glanced over at the woman. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to DTKaiba, asking, "Who is this? I don't recognize her among Yugi's friends."

"Wh-what are you saying, Tristan? Don't you recognize me? It's me...Angie!" she blurted out.

DTKaiba answered, "He is not the person you knew him as anymore, girl. He is yet another version that was trapped in this world, but in the computer. And now he is going to help us gather all the intruders that had taken over my mansion."

"You mean...that's another Kaiba??" Angie asked in horror. Yet, she noticed as he glared coldly down at her, that it was the same look of disinterest one would expect to see from Kaiba. Except...he was in the body of Tristan.

"I don't think I know what you mean." DTKaiba smirked evilly. "After all, there is only one Seto Kaiba, and that is me. Let's just say this is no longer Tristan, but a loyal servant ready to do my bidding."

"Don't push it." Tristan snapped at him.

DTKaiba paid no heed to Tristan though, saying to the guards, "Take her away and lock her up."

After the guards left, he turned to Tristan, saying, "It's best to play this role for your own good 'Tristan'. We don't want to confuse our security, when we begin to gather up the supposed 'Kaiba imposters'. If we begin to convince them there is more than one me, there will be problems with loyalty. We don't want them second guessing themselves, when they get the order to capture the others."

Tristan nodded, realizing it made sense. "Fine. I'll go to the mansion in order to lead them to think their friends are in no danger here, and try to keep them there, as well. And while I'm there, I'll try to see what they're up to. Perhaps they figured out how this happened, and have an idea how to reverse it."

"Don't forget, Yugi was told that I figured out how to reverse it. If you question them on it too much, they might get suspicious." DTKaiba said.

Tristan smirked, saying, "Maybe you forgot who you're dealing with. I am already aware of that...I'm no amateur." Tristan looked away, saying, "What about you? Philmore should be getting here soon."

"Don't worry about that. I'll wait for him to show up, and place him into this other thing's body. He can then have the time to go get himself cleaned up somewhere, while I show back up to the mansion with the guards to start gathering everyone up." DTKaiba said. Then with a smirk, he added, "Keep in mind, you don't look like yourself. They'll expect you to smile more. You're going to have to dummy yourself up a bit, too."

Tristan shook his head, offering his own smirk. "Hmph...how hard can it be to 'act stupid'?"

Then with a more stern look, DTKaiba added, "Be careful of Mokuba...he'll suspect."

Tristan paused, hearing Mokuba's name. He had forgotten about him for the moment, so engrossed in this new body. 'Of course... Mokuba. I wont be able to be near him while I'm here. If I do, he may figure it out. He knows me too well.' Tristan nodded, "I understand. I'll simply avoid him, and try to stay close to Yugi's little cheerleading group."

"Sure you can handle it? You know how close you are to your brother." DTKaiba teased.

"It wont be a problem. Besides, when I get back, I'll have my own brother to see." Tristan then turned away, and walked out of the room.

As he left, DTKaiba smiled coldly, thinking, 'That's what you think...fool.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Now that Yugi, Joey, and Tea had entered the living room, they noticed the one on the laptop wasn't the only on in the living room. Another Kaiba was sitting on the couch on the other side. And everyone's eyes widened, as he leaped up, saying happily, "Yugi! What are you doing here??"

"It's getting weirder..." Joey muttered.

Tea picked her jaw up, as Yugi tried to figure out why MKaiba seemed so different.

/Perhaps it simply the dimension he's from, aibou...like the Seto that greeted us at the game shop./

/Yes, that would make sense./ Yugi agreed.

He then politely smiled at him, replying, "We just got here to check on Mokuba."

"...oh." the other looked down, suddenly nervous for some reason.

As they talked, JKaiba got up, saying to MEKaiba, "Take over." letting him take control of the laptop.

MEKaiba didn't argue for once, not wanting to seem immature in front of Yugi, pretending that they were in full control of the present situation.

Yugi's group then jumped, seeing two more Kaiba's suddenly come into the living room from the stairs they had come from, acting as if this was all perfectly normal. As they did, SMKaiba shook his head, stating, "Nothing...no files."

"Files?" Yugi asked.

VWKaiba glared at the three, and asked, "Who invited Yugi in?"

JKaiba glared at MEKaiba who stated calmly, "Yugi says he has information about this matter."

They turned back to look at Yugi. Both then remembered Yugi's question. But while VWKaiba believed it's best to offer as little as possible to a potential opponent, SMKaiba didn't seem to think that way and replied, "We were looking for files to see if the original Kaiba had any information on how this happened, and how to possibly reverse the problem."

Yugi then said, "But, why would Kaiba have any paperwork on it? It's not his fault."

VWKaiba crossed his arms, asking, "Is that so? Then whose fault is it, Yugi??"

"Uh..." Yugi looked down, acting guilty. "Actually, it's kinda my fault...I guess."

"See? I told you." MEKaiba smirked triumphantly, as he typed on the laptop.

JKaiba scowled for the moment, but his focus quickly returned to Joey. Joey was obviously still nervous about him, since he looked back with suspicion and fear, seeming very nervous from his stare.

'You're really not mine...are you?' he thought, as it all finally began to sink in. Mokuba was right. It wasn't his Joey's fault at all. That's the reason he couldn't find the history on there relationship. There really was none.

Barely a hint of a smirk then came to his face as he thought that if that really wasn't his Joey, then why not have fun torturing the poor mutt, and see what he was missing.

So, JKaiba calmly approached Joey, leaning literally right next to him against the wall, making Joey even more nervous and jumpy. Then JKaiba turned and smirked down at Joey, as he brought a hand up, beginning to play with some strands of Joey's hair, finally stating, "Is that so, Yugi? Then please do explain how it is possible that you created multiple versions of us..."

"Yahhh!!" Joey cried out, jumping away from JKaiba fearfully.

Some of the Kaiba's were confused by JKaiba's behavior. But SMKaiba and MEKaiba understood, remembering what he had said earlier, and scowled in distaste. But despite their disapproval, the way he was making Joey spazz out they had to admit was rather amusing...making them unsure if JKaiba's behavior was presently good or bad. So, for now they all remained neutral to themselves, saying nothing on it for the moment.

A sweat dropped down from Yugi, as he muttered, "Uh...well, it was because of the Millennium Puzzle." Yugi then looked down at his feet, saying, "It's kind of a long story."

"We have more than time." SMKaiba stated.

"Okay. Well, you see...another Kaiba was here before. Actually, he called himself Seto Yagakamiya. Anyway...in his world, it seemed that the other me was able to understand and control the power of the Millennium Puzzle." Yugi replied, as he looked down at the puzzle, cradling it as a precious item.

"This is already beginning to sound ridiculous." VWKaiba said, rolling his eyes. The last thing VWKaiba wanted to hear was yet another story about ancient Egypt, or so he believed was coming.

While, MEKaiba impatiently snapped, "Just get to the point of what happened!"

"Okay, well..." Yugi began, but stop to hear Joey yelp again and quickly moved away, after JKaiba had teasingly skimmed his finger down Joey's arm.

Yugi glanced strangely at JKaiba again, but said, "Okay, well...as I was saying before, Seto asked that I used the Millennium Puzzle to try and bring him home. I told him I wasn't comfortable to try, but he insisted, and..."

"...and now there's more of us." MEKaiba finished, assuming what was about to be said.


	34. C34 A Chibi Kaiba?

_C34 A Chibi Kaiba???_

'...where am I??' GSeto was frightened, being in a room he didn't recognize. How did he get here? He could only imagine what Noah would do to punish him, being somewhere he was not supposed to be.

GSeto slowly rose, and flinched from the pain of last night's punishment. He didn't do anything bad...it was just a lesson from Noah to make sure he understood he was the master. Then other times, it was simply fun for Noah. But it was still better than what Noah did to him when he did something wrong.

He limped over to the door, and opened it a crack. It was the wrong side of the house...stepfather's side of the house. The hallway he was never supposed to be in. Panic began to fill him, but he tried to keep as calm as possible. If he could just sneak back to his side, no one would have to know.

GSeto quickly snuck out and limped down the hallway, confused as to why he saw no guards anywhere. But after making it to the East wing, he froze...nothing looked right. The decorations of the house, the floor, the statues...everything was different. "Wh-what?" he muttered, then quieted quick in fear a guard might hear. But, where was Noah, where were the guards, where was stepfather?

That's when he heard voices. His fear told him to run away and ignore the voices. Maybe he should just go back to his room and wait for Noah to punish him again. But, nothing was right...and maybe that's where Noah was, and he could see what was happening.

GSeto itched under his collar around his neck, then slowly crept to where the top of the stairs were he carefully peered down. There were a bunch of people there he had no idea who they were. A spikey rainbow-head guy, a guy with a shaggy blond mop, a girl with short brown hair, and then...a bunch of tall mean-looking men. Yet the mean ones all looked exactly the same and there were 5 of them!

'Quintuplets?' GSeto wondered. But, who were they? Why didn't he see or hear Noah or Gozaburo among them? Where were the guards? ...unless the quintuplets were the guards. But, he didn't think so. One of them kept strangely inching towards the blond-headed one, making him jump and cry out nervously. It was hardly professional behavior. No guard would dare do something like that in the Kaiba mansion.

Then, to GSeto's horror...one of the 5 turned and looked towards him. 'They spotted me!' he thought in terror.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba was listening to the others in the room, when something was caught from the corner of his eye; an instant of movement. He looked that way quickly and saw to his surprise a small boy, looking back at him in fear. 'Seto...??' he thought, thinking that looked so much like a smaller version of his brother. But this one looked so scared.

He was about to open his locket and compare, to make sure what he was seeing was right...but immediately this Seto ducked away.

"Seto!" MKaiba abruptly said and stood, looking towards the stairs. It caused the room to quiet around him, as he looked around realizing he probably just acted wrong again. But he had to find this other Seto, and help him understand.

"Is there a problem?" VWKaiba asked him.

MKaiba pointed towards the stairs, and stuttered, "Uh, I...I gotta go to the bathroom!" He then rushed out of the room immediately after.

JKaiba was in view and watched him head upstairs, adding to his suspicion...since he passed the closest bathroom downstairs to get where he was going.

"One of us should probably check on him." MEKaiba said, not trusting any version of himself in the least.

"No..." JKaiba said, despite the direction he had gone. Those same vibes he got from him kept haunting him. No matter what this one did...something inside told him this one could be trusted. "He's fine. Let him go. I'm sure he'll back soon."

"Don't you think you're being a little selective over who you can trust or not?" MEKaiba asked, still angered over JKaiba's attitude towards him earlier.

But VWKaiba added, "He said let him go, so let him go." taking JKaiba's side. He too sensed something weird about him...but a good weird. He also didn't understand why he felt MKaiba could be trusted. But he never went against his instincts, either.

"Is something wrong?" Yugi asked.

"No." almost all of the Kaiba's said at once, who all turned away scowling...also not liking when they occasionally spoke at the same time, and thinking the same things.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

GSeto ran down the hall wildly in a panic. They were going to tell Noah...Noah was going to hurt him. He was going to be in trouble. He immediately ran to his room, in hopes that he could pretend he was there all along. Again, GSeto froze in confusion. It looked like a normal room. There was normal furniture, the walls and floor weren't bare with traces of blood, the chain and animal dishes weren't on the floor, there was a bed...a real bed. And it looked so unused. Was the plan all along to send him back to the orphanage? Overall, that probably wouldn't be such a bad thing...at least he'd see his brother again. But he feared it had to be something worst. Maybe Noah got tired of him, and he and Gozaburo had plans to kill him! Then he'd never see his brother again...

GSeto backed up in fear, back into the hallway. He then heard the sound of footsteps and realized he was out of time. Quickly, he ducked into the room across the hall and closed the door.

Breathing fast, GSeto kept as quiet as possible as he heard the footsteps pass the door, checking out another room, as someone called, "Seto...??" It was him they were looking for. This was bad.

"S-Seto...?"

He froze, hearing his name called from behind him. But this time, it was from a boy that sounded close to his age. And his voice sound a somewhat familiar...

He turned to see a very familiar black mop move up into a sitting position on the bed and look his way. "Seto? Is that you?"

It couldn't be...he sounded so much older! GSeto approached, and sure enough...it was Mokuba. But why did he look so old?? Yes, it's been too long since they have seen each other. But, no way could a kid 5 years younger than him be the same height. How could it be?? "Mokie...??"

"Not another one." Mokuba muttered. But he then smiled, saying, "Wow...you're a lot younger, this time. You must be pretty confused, huh?"

GSeto blankly nodded, as he questioned out loud, "Why are you here?" That's when it suddenly hit him. Mokuba was in Gozaburo's mansion. Could they have adopted him too?? 'No, it can't be!!'

There was a time when GSeto was first adopted, that he would have wished more than anything if his brother could be here with him. But after all that he had been through at the mansion, he was actually glad Mokuba was never adopted. Maybe Gozaburo was someone he could have handled to keep Mokuba safe. But him and Noah together...there was just no way. Mokuba would have been hurt, and it would have been his fault. But, Mokuba was here! He had to get him out, before he started to see just what an ugly place this was.

Immediately, GSeto grabbed Mokuba and pulled as hard as he could, saying in hushed whispers, "Come on, quick! We gotta get out of here!"

"What? Seto..."

"Sshhhh!! They'll hear us! Hurry, we gotta go before they..." GSeto continued to whisper quickly, but Mokuba pulled from his grasp.

"No, Seto...you don't get it. This isn't your world!" Mokuba tried to tell him. His brother looked so panicked. Plus, he could clearly see the bruises on him even from the dim moonlight, and the odd collar he wore. What kind of terrible world did this Seto end up in? He automatically started to feel so badly for him.

"No, you don't get it!" GSeto yelled in pent-up anger. "We gotta go NOW!!"

At that instant, the door opened and MKaiba was peering in. GSeto backed up in terror. 'It's too late...they found us!'

"Seto?" MKaiba asked.

GSeto blinked in confusion. The tone was strange, the look was strange, and it gave him a weird warm feeling as if Mokuba had just entered the room. But, Mokuba was all ready there! That meant, this guy was trying to play with his head.

All he could think of was to protect his brother. He had to...it's all he had left. With a spur of desperate rage, GSeto charged to both Mokuba's surprise, and ended up kicking MKaiba right in the crotch. MKaiba cried out in pain, buckling over...as GSeto grabbed Mokuba's hand tightly, saying, "We're out of time...I'll explain later!"

"Sorry!!" Mokuba cried to him, as he let GSeto pull him out of the bedroom. If he could get GSeto to calm down, maybe he could help explain things through to him. But obviously he was so overwhelmed by his own inner-demons, there was no getting through to him at the moment.

'If you can't beat him...join him.' Mokuba thought. As GSeto wildly looked around for the safest way out of here, Mokuba said, "This way, Seto...I know a secret area they'll never find!"

GSeto looked at him in confusion, wondering how Mokuba would know something that he didn't. But he didn't recognize the household like he should, and felt he should trust his brother. He nodded, allowing Mokuba to lead the way, and Mokuba lead him to a special escape route that his brother made incase something ever went wrong, and either of them would have to get away.

GSeto looked around the odd dark tunnel-like hallway, then at Mokuba, asking, "How did you know about this?"

"Because I live here." Mokuba said.

GSeto glared, saying, "I've been living here for 2 years. I never knew of this."

"No, you haven't." Mokuba smiled. "Seto...you're not from this world. You came from another world and ended up here. The guy you just kicked...that's a future version of you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba pealed himself off the floor, after suffering a horrible painful kick from his own brother. "Oww..." He knew he should have gotten karate lessons like his brother had. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel such pride to see his brother first hand in full action when he feels cornered like that. He also felt pretty stupid, too...he should have known his brother would react like that. But, he was hoping he would see enough of who he really was to not attack him.

"Maybe seeing Mokuba in here too only confused him more." MKaiba thought. He could tell even the other Kaiba's were beginning to suspect. But as long as he kept playing his brother, he counted on the fact that the other versions would be too stubborn to let themselves think otherwise.

But, now MKaiba realized both Mokuba and this other version of Seto were gone. 'What am I going to do? I gotta find them!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"...I don't want to talk about it." GSeto said, looking away from his brother in shame.

Mokuba was attempting to find out what happened to GSeto in his world. But as usual, he was being stubborn and saying as little to Mokuba as possible.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me anything." Mokuba said. Then trying to push his brother's guilt button, he added with puppy dog eyes. "...don't you trust me, Seto?"

That certainly made GSeto feel like crap, making his brother think he didn't trust him. But he didn't want Mokuba to know what he was going through over here...even if his brother was right and this wasn't his world.

"Could you tell me if we're at least together in your world?" Mokuba asked.

Somehow that made GSeto feel even crappier, because he had failed in doing even that. He looked down and shook his head, admitting his failure as a brother to him...prepared for Mokuba to condemn him for being such a terrible brother.

Mokuba seemed surprised, and was worried. GSeto was loaded with abuse all over him. Maybe whoever did this ended up killing him. "So...where am I over there?"

"Orphanage." GSeto answered, refusing to look up in his eyes.

Suddenly, it all made sense to Mokuba. Wherever GSeto ended up, he probably didn't want Mokuba there, for his own protection. And as usual, GSeto was probably taking it as a failure instead of thinking how much he probably spared his brother pain. He smiled. "I stayed there to be kept safe, huh? Gozaburo must have been pretty bad in your world, that you didn't want me to come, too."

"He has a son." GSeto finally added. "Neither of them are very nice." His eyes twitched in pain, having to face his little brother after two years of this. "I should have been able to do more." he muttered, fighting to keep himself from crying. "I should have been able to get you out of there, and protect you. But..."

"Stop it!" Mokuba snapped. "Stop blaming yourself all the time. You did what you could. I know you too much, Seto...you let yourself get hurt because of me. It's not fair! If they're hurting you, then you have to get out of there, and protect yourself for once!"

GSeto continued to keep his face directed at the floor in shame. Nothing Mokuba could say or do would convince him differently. Yes...he stayed there, to ensure the focus would never be on Mokuba. And he took the abuse for Mokuba's sake...in a way. The fact of the matter was...GSeto gave up. He didn't see any way to save Mokuba from the orphanage, without suffering the same abuse he did. So, he took every bit of Noah's and even Gozaburo's abuse. It was his punishment, his penalty game for his failure to do what he had to do. As far as GSeto was concerned...he deserved it all.

"Could you tell me about these other me's?" GSeto then asked, trying to change the subject. He didn't want to tell Mokuba anything about what's been happening to him, if he could avoid it. He already failed. There was no point in describing to his brother in detail just how badly he failed.

"Something went wrong...I think it's something Yugi did." Mokuba said. "There was another Seto here, and he used his puzzle to send him back. But when he did, all these other Seto's started appearing out of nowhere. We dunno why, but they're all here and trying to find a way back. But, they wont hurt you...they're all you. And maybe each one of them didn't have the exactly same past, but they're probably all pretty close. So, I'm sure they can relate to you and what you're going through. Who knows, maybe while you're here, you can find some way to figure out how to fix things back in your world."

GSeto finally looked up at Mokuba, hearing what he was saying. He knew he could trust Mokuba's words. Even though there was no logic to it, he believed Mokuba that he was no longer in his world. "So, Gozaburo and Noah aren't here?"

"Nope." Mokuba smiled. "In my world, Seto's in charge. He took over Gozaburo's business and turned it into a company that builds amusement parks and entertains children everywhere. It brings happiness instead of killing."

It sounded too good to be true. Maybe this was all just a dream. Maybe that last bit of abuse from Noah actually killed him, and despite his failure to Mokuba he was being sent to heaven. But if that was the case, then he never wanted to go back. He would gladly stay in this heaven forever.

'But, Mokuba...' his conscious reminded him. He couldn't leave his brother alone. But didn't he suffer enough? Shouldn't his penalty game be over by now? The thought of what Noah would do if he went back. No, he had enough...he couldn't go back. He wouldn't go back!

"Seto...??" Mokuba asked, seeing the kid blank out for a second.

GSeto unconsciously nodded, so as to not worry his brother. "Yeah...maybe this place could help." he said.

Mokuba smiled, pleased to see this version of his brother had finally calmed down. "Good. Then are you ready to meet the other Seto's? They're probably all looking for us, by now."

Slowly GSeto nodded, deciding if they were looking for a way back, then he had to hear this information in order to prevent them from succeeding. And hiding in here wasn't going to help.

"Okay." GSeto replied.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba was just approaching the entrance to the secret escape door, when it opened itself to show both Mokuba and GSeto. He sighed in relief to see them both still in the mansion, and they didn't leave anywhere. "I was worried..." he said.

Mokuba tiredly looked up, saying, "It's okay, now...I explained it all to him."

GSeto looked MKaiba over carefully, and asked in suspicion. "You're an older...me?"

MKaiba looked away awkwardly, saying, "Uh...yeah, that's right." and hoping this younger version of himself wouldn't detect the lie.

He then looked over at Mokuba, saying, "Well, you better go back to bed and get some rest. You're not going to get any better out here."

GSeto quickly looked at Mokuba, asking, "Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I've been sick. It's nothing, though...I'm getting better." he said. Mokuba turned to MKaiba, and nodded. "Okay, I'll head back, now. Uh...you're okay, right?"

MKaiba gave a sheepish nod, saying, "I'll be fine."

"Sorry..." GSeto said, knowing they were referring to when he attacked him. "I didn't know."

"It's okay, but we better get back to the others. They'll want to know what's going on." MKaiba said.

Mokuba went back to bed, as they headed for the stairs. "Don't worry...they wont hurt you."

"I know that, now." GSeto said, as he kept looking at MKaiba strangely. What was it about this guy, and why did he keep reminding him of his brother?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Everyone was surprised when MKaiba came back with what was obviously a very miniature version of Kaiba.

"Another one?" MEKaiba asked.

GSeto felt nervous, feeling the cold stares of every one of them looking down at him. Why did MKaiba seem so much more caring and warmer towards him, and all the others seemed so cold?

"You mean that's Kaiba, too?" Tea asked, and moved right over to him, squatting down to look him over. "Oh...he's so cute!"

Every other Kaiba looked like they wanted to strangle Tea that moment for the stupid comment. And Yugi was also trying to hide a snicker after hearing that, upsetting them more.

Joey then gave a laugh, muttering, "Hard to believe any Kaiba could ever be called cute!" making JKaiba not look very happy towards him. Joey glanced back at JKaiba and swallowed nervously. Maybe insulting him wasn't a very good thing right at this moment.

GSeto didn't know who this lady was, and didn't trust or like her, trying to keep as close to MKaiba as possible...the only one he did trust.

But to make matters worst, the doorbell suddenly rang. MKaiba immediately said, "I'll get it." and headed for the door.

"I'll help!!" Joey suddenly blurted, finding this the best opportunity to get away from JKaiba.

Great. Now GSeto was left alone with some strange lady, and a bunch of mean versions of him.


	35. C35 Identifying the Betrayer

_**C35 Identifying the Betrayer**_

"I'll get it!" MKaiba said, leaving the room.

"I'll help!" Joey blurted, rushing off to help him.

Tea offered her hand, saying, "Come on, it's okay...let me show you a place to sit."

GSeto looked up at her strangely, wondering why she wanted to take his hand. At the same time, the other versions of him all watched coldly, as if he felt like he was somehow being tested. It made him question himself, 'Would any version of me accept this lady's hand?'

'What in the world is he wearing?' VWKaiba thought to himself, as many of the Kaiba's observed the odd clothing. It was similar to the white uniform they used to wear when they were younger...but this uniform was a dark brown, almost the color of his hair. The Kaiba's also noticed the sloppy bruise marks that the uniform did not cover up, which didn't make sense to any of them. Gozaburo would never be so careless to offer such discriminating evidence to the public eye. So, what did it mean?

And on top of that, something was wrapped around GSeto's neck that the school uniform didn't entirely hide. If they didn't know any better...they'd swear it looked like a dog collar. If that was the case, the item had one of two meanings...abuse or a strange fashion sense. After all, Yugi Motou wore what looked like a dog collar all the time. For all they knew, maybe this version of themselves was some kind of closet Goth dresser, or something.

"I'm fine." GSeto said, keeping his hands to himself and walking passed her to find a seat without her. As he sat, he noticed the approving looks from the other Kaiba's. Obviously, his decision was the right one for them.

Tea shrugged and moved back next to Yugi, as Yugi muttered, "I wonder who's at the door."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Joey was the first to spring at the door, as he yanked it open to see Tristan there. He immediately grinned and hugged him, saying, "Tristan, you have no idea how glad I am to see ya, man!!"

"Get off of me!!" Tristan snapped pushing him back.

Joey blinked looking at him, as did MKaiba. He realized what he was doing, and said, "Uh...sorry. I guess I'm getting tired. It's getting kinda late."

Tristan then glanced over at this other Kaiba, and was sensing the weirdest vibes from this one. He remembered the feeling he got when facing KaibaS2...it was like he was looking into a mirror. And yet, this time that wasn't the case...it was different. It almost felt like he had been around him before, which wasn't possible. And even stranger, this Kaiba didn't even have the normal stern face he was used to, either...that too was different.

"Uh...come in." MKaiba said, inviting Tristan in. "The others are in the living room." He thought Tristan was acting kind of strange, himself. In fact, he too was getting weird vibes from Tristan, but didn't quite know why.

They came back into the living room, where Joey decided to lean against the wall, on the totally opposite side of where JKaiba was.

Tea smiled, saying, "Hey Tristan!"

Yugi then said, "Uh...where's Angie, and Seto?"

"Seto?" MEKaiba asked.

"Y-yeah, there's another one of ya that ended up at Yugi's. We brought him to the other Kaiba, at Kaiba Corp." Joey said, as he became wide-eyed and fearful, seeing JKaiba approaching to his end with a smirk.

Joey suddenly grabbed Tristan, saying, "Hey bud, why don't you hang next to me, here!" shoving Tristan purposely in between him and JKaiba.

Tristan looked surprised, and his instinct was to shove Joey away with disgust. But he refrained, knowing he was supposed to be Joey's friend. Looking strangely at this stalking Kaiba, he finally crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, saying, "Yeah, whatever..." trying not to be like himself.

JKaiba had to admit, he started to like this game with Joey. True, it wasn't 'his' Joey, but since this one seemed to paranoid at being so close, it was one more way to frazzle the mutt. Plus, he had almost forgotten just how much fun it was to rub Joey the wrong way, and make him react to him.

He really knew he should be focusing on what was going on at the moment, but since there seemed to be no apparent danger, he didn't feel the need. Plus, without any work to do...he was actually starting to get bored. And he really couldn't care less what anyone else thought on his behavior, anyway. After all, none of them were actually from his world...therefore their opinions meant nothing.

Unfortunately for JKaiba, the 'mutt' tossed Tristan in the way to block him from his present entertainment. So, once again JKaiba decided to focus on the problem at hand, boredly asking, "So, you mean there's still 2 more of us still over at Kaiba Corp? What exactly are they doing over there??"

Yugi said, "This other Kaiba seemed to believe that he created a device that could bring all the other versions of himself back to where they belong. So we sent Seto over there to see how well it works."

JKaiba's eyes narrowed, hearing this. "Is this Kaiba the one from this world?" he asked, still thinking that maybe his theory was right.

Yugi looked uncertain, saying, "Uh...I talked to him over the phone, so uh...I'm not sure." Yugi then turned to Tristan, asking, "Tristan?"

Tristan quickly said, "I can't say for sure...he certainly acts like him. Either way, it's a portable device. Angie stayed with Seto to make sure he didn't cause any problems, while Kaiba tested the device to ensure it works to perfection. He told me as soon as he sends that version of himself on his way, he would be heading over here with the device, so everyone can get sent back at once."

GSeto's eyes widened, hearing that. 'I have to stop him!' he realized. But, how? How could he delay himself??

JKaiba was thinking that he was right, it was the Kaiba from this world that was responsible. And whether that Kaiba was from this world or not didn't matter...he probably got the information from their files at Kaiba Corp, which was why he couldn't find anything on it here. Either way, it seemed they could all sit back and wait for this other version to show up and send them back. A pity...he was really starting to like picking on this world's Joey, too.

"Are you sure he can be trusted??"

Everyone turned to face GSeto as he asked that question, Tristan becoming more wide-eyed from the comment, after hoping no one would think of asking that question. 'Damn him!' Tristan thought, glaring at GSeto. That's when he really noticed the kid for the first time. 'It's another me, but he's so young. Hmph...too young.' he thought, eyes narrowing with distrust.

"What do you mean?" MEKaiba asked.

GSeto shrugged. "I'm just saying...what if that version of Kaiba is lying, and he doesn't have any device. Maybe this device doesn't send you back, but does something much worst."

"I was there!" Tristan snapped in anger. "I saw the device. He explained to me perfectly how it works, and it made logical sense. Besides...why shouldn't any of you trust him? He obviously wants the same thing everyone does...to get back home. Who the hell would want to stick around here??"

As he asked both Yami and Yugi observed Tristan. 'What's wrong with him?' Yugi asked Yami

'Tristan doesn't exactly seem himself, for some reason.' Yami thought, yet kept his thoughts from Yugi, not answering him back. After all, he didn't need to add more suspicion to the group, when there was all ready chaos ensuing about what Kaiba's could be trusted.

GSeto looked down, refusing eye contact, feeling the shame from himself. He was the traitor here, and obviously not the one he was accusing. But he forced himself to continue anyway, too afraid to go back home and face his fate. "I'm not trying to cause problems. All I'm saying is that maybe it's not what it's suppose to be. You said you left this other Seto there, which means he didn't activate it, yet. So, maybe his explanation is all bullshit, and the device doesn't work as he claims it does."

"...and maybe he's not the one we should be questioning on trust!" Tristan snapped back at the kid. "Exactly 'how' old are you, anyway??"

The question caused every one of the other Kaiba's to glare at the child accusingly, as if his age was proof of a crime he had committed. GSeto didn't understand the question or the negative response that came from it. But, he also knew this stranger that looked nothing like the others and yet acting just like them, was right...he was the real traitor.

Immediately, Joey grabbed Tristan by the collar, snapping, "What the hell is wrong with ya, picking on a poor kid like that?? Leave him the hell alone! Besides, he's got a point...the guy we're counting on helping us IS a Kaiba, after all."

Most of the Kaiba's gave Joey an accusing glare, especially JKaiba. Even if Joey did have a point, that didn't mean he had to throw it in their faces.

As for Tristan...for a moment it looked like he was going to kill Joey, for daring to put a hand on his clothes. But remembering quickly he had to behave like his idiot friend, he faked a smile and waved his hands, saying, "Hey, all I'm trying to say is that...just cuz he's a kid don't make him innocent. Don't forget, he's also a Kaiba. And honestly, can you really trust any of them?"

Joey hesitated, and finally released Tristan. "Yeah, ya got a point. He's a Kaiba too, aint he? I kinda forgot." he grinned. "But, still...he's just a kid."

"Yeah, I know." Tristan said, looking down...even though mentally he felt that was even more of a reason not to trust him. "But, Kaiba was also pretty young when he started up that Death Tournament."

'Death Tournament?' GSeto wondered, as did SMKaiba.

All Kaiba's, except for SMKaiba, now turned away...knowing those two words had them dead to rights. How could any of them be trusted, after what they did in the past? No matter how many times Mokuba told them there was nothing to forgive, none of it mattered if they couldn't forgive themselves.

"Stop it!!" MKaiba suddenly snapped, surprising everyone. MKaiba approached as support for GSeto, as he stated, "You have no right to accuse him of that. Everyone's from a different time. No one knows if that's even going to happen to him or not!"

Tristan blinked, staring at MKaiba and how a Kaiba loyally defended another version of him. 'That can't be one of us!' Tristan thought, feeling an even stranger and stronger connected to this one.

SMKaiba continued to watch the whole scene, too focused on Death-T for anything else to matter to him. 'What's Death Tournament?' he wondered. 'What happened in this universe that I missed out on?' Whatever it was, he had a feeling it was bad and probably a very good thing he wasn't involved.

GSeto looked up, as MKaiba smiled down at him. 'That's not me...' GSeto realized. All the other ones were so cold. He felt at times he was looking at clones of Gozaburo with only mild differences. But, he could easily expect himself to turn out that way. This Kaiba was the only one who didn't act that way at all. His eyes were kind, his smile was warm...he undoubtedly cared about him. And there was only one person that ever truly cared for him that way.

'Mokuba...??' he wondered. It's what he thought when he first looked at him up close, but he was so close to the other Mokuba, it confused him. After all, there couldn't be two, and assumed it was a trick. 'But if there are multiples of me, couldn't there be multiples of him?' But that didn't make any sense, either. If that was the way he was supposed to look in the future, why would Mokuba look like him? But also...why did this Tristan person act like him, and look like someone else? It was really confusing, and gave GSeto to urge to get up and run away from this area, very quickly.

MKaiba realized once again his actions caused the others to look on him in suspicion. So, he quickly added, "Mokuba wouldn't want us fighting with each other. And just as Tristan said, we are all looking to find a way back home. So, there's no reason for any of us to accuse each other."

That seemed to shut everyone up on the subject. But his words seemed to stab Tristan with his own moment of guilt, knowing that he was probably the main one playing the traitor of them all. He took over someone else's body with the intent to stab everyone in the back in order to get a body of his own. 'If they can't stop me, then they have it coming to them.' he reminded himself. But, looking at MKaiba still made him feel guilty, all the same. But, why? What was it about MKaiba that made him feel so strange?

Joey was simply relieved that this whole uproar had managed to make JKaiba totally uninterested in him at the moment. It really didn't matter what they yelled at to each other. Pretty soon, they'll all be gone, and he'll only have one Kaiba to contend with...the one that lives here and can't stand him. And he was perfectly fine with that one, now. All the over-work in the world would still be tons better than having a Kaiba constantly making a pass at him. That was just too weird, and made him feel funny.

MEKaiba finally spoke up, saying, "Yugi...you still have a story to finish, last time I remember." Right now, any change of subject would be a better one, after what had been said about them.

"Oh, yes!" Yugi said. "So, this one Kaiba wanted Seto sent over to test this device..."

"Not that story! The other one!" MEKaiba snapped.

"Other one??" Yugi said, totally forgetting.

"That's right." MEKaiba smirked. "You were originally explaining to us how this all happened in the first place."

"Oh, that one!" Yugi said, then blushed...hoping they'd forget about that story. After all, it was Yugi's fault this had all happened. "Um...where was I on that? It kinda got confusing..."

"...you said that you somehow used that puzzle, which somehow created more of us." MEKaiba stated, rolling his eyes.

"Right!" Yugi smiled. "Well, not really created...more like it brought you guys here from wherever you all came from. Anyway...so, this other Seto wanted me to bring him back. I did as he asked, and used the power of the Millennium Puzzle. At first, it seemed to work. But, then...something went wrong, because there was now another Kaiba in its place." Yugi said. He looked around at them, muttering, "Uh, well...it was one of you, I think. But then we began to realize it wasn't just him that appeared, but others as well...just not in the same place. It looked like most of you ended up here."

Joey then said, "You know, Yugi...maybe you should tell them how this all started from the very beginning."

"You mean...all the way when Mokuba first got sick?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah...to catch them all up to speed." Joey said.

Yugi looked and noticed his comment about Mokuba being sick certainly got every Kaiba's attention. He nodded, and said, "Okay..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A kid walked into Kaiba Corp, with a stride like he owned the place. The secretary looked down at him, asking, "Can I help you?"

"Tell Mr. Kaiba that Philmore is here." he said in a very business, un-childlike tone.

The secretary blinked, asking, "You're Philmore?"

"Just tell him." he snapped.

The secretary informed DTKaiba, and she smiled, saying, "Please, go right up."

Philmore walked into the elevator, and pushed the button for the floor that the VR chamber was located. As he walked in though, he was suddenly grabbed by security, taken totally off-guard. DTKaiba smiled coldly, saying, "I've been waiting for you, Philmore. It's good to see you finally made it."

"What is the meaning of this! We're supposed to be in this together!" Philmore snapped.

DTKaiba shook his head, saying, "You should know better. There's no such thing as 'us' in business. Take him to the cell that the 'woman' is residing in. Then get the limo ready...we have a meeting to take care of at the mansion. Make sure my security guards are ready, as well. I don't want any mistakes."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." the guard nodded.

"And drag that worthless bum with us, too." DTKaiba added, referring to Seto, who never had his mind sucked away, but was still rendered unconscious.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It wasn't long before Angie had a guest in the locked and empty room. She blinked, looking at the kid as he was thrown in as well, before the door was locked tight.

Angie came over to him to help him up, as she asked, "Who are you?"

But the kid yanked his arm roughly away from her, refusing to accept any help from Angie, as he asked, "I should be asking you the same question. Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Angie. Uh...I'm a friend of Yugi Motou." she said.

The kid narrowed his eyes, saying, "Oh, really? Well, I don't remember seeing you, before."

"Huh? Do you know Yugi, too? Are you also a friend of his?" she asked.

The kid scoffed at her question, saying, "Of course I know Yugi, but we're hardly considered 'friends'." The boy examined the security door, then the code button beside it. Immediately, he started pressing buttons at a fast pace, as 'Access Denied' kept coming up. He would then try a different code, and so forth.

Angie gave a grim laugh, saying, "I don't think that'll work. You can't just get the door open from pushing random buttons."

"They're not random." he snapped, as he tried some more, looking annoyed. It appeared the passwords were changed, which were not very surprising to him. After all, it's hard to out-smart someone who was technically...'him'. He felt stupid falling for this trap in the first place. But he had no reason to think this one would betray him. After all, all their goals were to get home...weren't they? Why would this one want to sabotage and stop them?? It made no sense. Wasn't this Kaiba the same as looking inside himself? He saw no reason why he would want to stay, or attack any other versions of himself. It simply had no logic to it.

Suddenly to Philmore's surprise, the last code he used opened the lock. Philmore blinked a couple times, surprised that it worked. It was an emergency code that he put in later, after what had happened to him with the Big 5. He put that code in, incase any other problem ever occurred, to make sure he had a code that only he would know about. But, why didn't the other Kaiba know about this code and deactivate it? That made no sense, either...

"You did it!" a voice blurted out, breaking Philmore's concentration.

He glared at her, with a few comments coming to mind to shoot back at her. But instead, he buried them and said, "Okay, get ready. They'll be guards outside. I want you to run out the door and keep running down the hall. At the very end, there's a maintenance room to the right. Go in and stay there...got it?"

"Listen kid, that's not very smart. The guards will come after us!" she said.

"Leave the guards to me. Just whatever you do, don't look back and keep running." Philmore told her. He then snapped, "Now, GO!"

She immediately ran out the door and charged down the hall in a rush, as the guards cried out, "Stop, or we'll shoot!!" She was terrified, worried that she was going to be gunned down. But the words from that kid echoed in her head, telling her to keep running...don't hesitate, and don't look back. She had no idea why she was trusting this kid with her life. But then, he did get her out, and did seem to know what he was talking about. And besides...what choice did she have??

The guards took positions, aiming their guns to fire. But Philmore came out, doing a spectacular move on the one guard, using the element of surprise to his advantage. The other guard turned to face the kid, surprised by what had just happened...a guard beaten down by a kid?? The guard's hesitation cost him dearly, as Philmore kicked him where it counted, having to fight dirty to make up for his loss of size.

He grabbed both guard's guns and headed down the hall to the janitor's closet. As he opened the door, he was nearly beaten by a broom, as Angie blindly swung down at him, assuming it was a guard after her. She quickly said, "Sorry!" looking pretty sheepish for what she did.

"Just watch what you're doing." he said, muttering, "At least you listened this much..." Philmore closed the door and locked it, giving her one of the guns.

She looked at it in fear, saying, "Well, what to we do now? We can't just stay in here forever. Besides, they'll be bound to find us soon enough, staying trapped in this room. I don't think this was a very good idea. No offense..."

"This room has two advantages." Philmore stated. "The first one is that janitor's rooms have no cameras in them to see us here. The second advantage is the escape route it offers."

"Escape route?" Angie asked, looking at the kid and wondering how in the world he would know about all this. Besides...she saw no other way out.

Philmore went over to the wooden beat-up shelf, and tried to tug at it. But, due to the kid's age he took over, he simply didn't have the strength. In frustration, he glared at Angie, snapping, "Are you going to sit there and stare, or help me?"

"Oh, sorry..." she said, still not sure what he was doing.

They both pulled the shelf aside to show what looked like an approx. 3'x4' panel carved into the wall. Philmore grabbed a screwdriver from the maintenance shelf, and unscrewed the panel, to reveal a small opening. He blankly explained, "This is a crawl-space made for the maintenance crew to crawl in between the walls, incase something electrical needed to be fixed. It saves in cost to tear open the walls every single time, plus it makes a convenient escape route incase something ever went wrong."

Angie blinked at the opening, and looked over at the kid, saying, "How...how do you know about this? Is your father one of the maintenance people?"

Philmore glared at her, saying curtly, "Funny. Do you honestly think that I would allow the maintenance crew to have that kind of high-security access codes?" He sighed, and shook his head, "If you can't figure out who I am by this time, then that's your problem...not mine. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here."

"You would allow...??" Angie asked, and then it suddenly clicked. "Oh my god, you're..." she stammered out, but by this time Philmore was ignoring her and beginning to crawl into the maintenance shaft. In anger, she grabbed him and yanked him back, snapping, "You're the one that threw me in that cell in the first place! So, what happened to your body? Is this some other way of trying to fool us??"

Philmore glared at her dangerously, his eyes narrowing down to slits, as he hissed, "Let. Go. Now."

She hesitated only a moment, and finally let him go, knowing how dangerous Kaiba could be...probably even at that size. Since she released him, he dusted off his shirt, and snapped, "Don't be an idiot. You and your so-called friends are already aware that there are multiple versions of me wandering around. Personally, I still can't understand why one version of me would want to stop all of us from getting back to where we belong...and if we don't get back there soon, he's going to succeed."

"Well...then we better get going." she said, deciding not to stall this any further.

They got through the opening quite easily. The other side of it was also larger than the opening. It was the same height as a normal room, but it was basically a narrow hallway a little over 4' wide. The back of the maintenance shelf conveniently had a groove carved into its back, allowing someone from that side to pull on the shelf so it could cover the hole back up. They wedged the panel in between the wall and the shelf, pulling it as close as they could back to the wall, before sliding the panel back in front...so that it wouldn't look like it was tampered with, as long as there was no careful study to the area. And as long as the shelf was back in place, he couldn't foresee the guards being smart enough to check behind it in the first place.

Only certain groups had knowledge and access to certain things, so that they couldn't do what he was doing right now. Security had full access to the cameras and certain pass cards. The maintenance crew knew certain access panels, but needed security to get them there to do the necessary work. The janitors had full access to everywhere, but had no knowledge on the maintenance tunnels, nor was told of where the cameras were, incase they tried to steal something. Only the Kaiba's knew every aspect of the building.

Philmore was in fact surprised that he made it this far, unsure why his other self left him a password. Was he walking into a trap?? Then again, if he couldn't see the logic of one Kaiba trying to take out all the other Kaiba's, then maybe there were differences, after all.

"Uh...it's kind of dark in here." Angie said, realizing they were now in total blackness.

Philmore turned on a flashlight, saying, "That's why I grabbed these off the shelf, when I put the screwdriver away."

She let out a chuckle, saying, "I...didn't even notice you did that. Thanks." Angie accepted the second flashlight he had, which he gave to her, and they began to head down the hall.

"So, um...how are we going to get to the first floor?" Angie asked.

Philmore was leading the way, as he answered, "That's coming up down this hall." He stopped and looked at her strangely, seeming to remember something. "I remember, now. I saw you at school...you were one of the students at Domino High. But I don't remember you ever being part of Yugi's little group."

She shrugged and smiled, saying, "Well...maybe in your world, I wasn't friends with them, yet."

He said nothing further on it, and continued to lead her down the small corridor.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

For the past hour, Yugi was giving everyone the entire run-down of what happened from the very start. It wasn't the most detailed...it simply gave them the basic idea of what has happened up to now.

During this entire time, MKaiba was constantly getting the weirdest feeling from Tristan. He didn't seem to act himself, at all. Some of the times, when one of Yugi's friends talked to him... he even seemed to be forcing a smile on his face. The whole thing seemed so...fake to him, and yet so familiar at the same time. When the Kaiba's began to fight or argue on something, Tristan even twitched, as if tempted to start right in on it like they were, but forcing himself to hold back.

Plus, that outburst he had earlier with GSeto. It would be just like his brother to hate a younger version of himself, seeing him as the failure of everything that would have happened to him in the future. But that made no sense for anyone else that normally saw a kid as someone more 'innocent'.

But Tristan was also noticing differences in MKaiba. While struggling with himself to keep with fighting with the others, he noticed that MKaiba had been staring at him, strangely...making him inwardly nervous and hoping he didn't suspect the truth.

At least he knew he wouldn't have to do this for very long. Soon that other Kaiba would be here, and then it would be too late for any of them. He could go back home and meet Mokuba with his own body again, without his brother knowing any idea how he did it...he wouldn't know the wiser. And that was all that mattered, right? So, even if they suspected him as a Kaiba, there was not enough time for them to figure it out.

But, while he had thought about that and remained quiet, he also noticed that MKaiba also stood out from the norm, acting nothing like himself. Hell...a minute ago, he was even defending another version of himself. And that just doesn't happen.

In fact...if he didn't know any better, he acted just like Mokuba. Strange that the other Kaiba's didn't outwardly show that they noticed any real difference in this one. Then again, in their world they obviously didn't give away their own body to allow their brother to live on. He did, and this one reminded him exactly of his brother. Speaking of which...where was the Mokuba of this world? He was okay in this universe...right??

MKaiba was also trying to work out his suspicions of Tristan, when the guy suddenly looked around and asked, "Where's Mokuba?"

"He's sick in bed, remember?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah...that's right." Tristan lied, forcing a smile and casually rubbed the back of his neck, as he had seen Joey do, attempting to mimic an idiot to fit in. "I think whatever he has, I'm starting to catch it. If you don't mind, I'm going to get a drink."

"No, wait! Don't do that!" Joey pleaded, knowing he was the only thing between him and JKaiba, who in fact gave an evil smirk the moment Tristan moved. But Tristan didn't listen, as he pulled his way from the wall, and headed to the kitchen. Joey gulped, and looked over at JKaiba who was giving Joey a wicked grin, and moved over next to him once again.

Tristan left the room to the kitchen, in an attempt to get his head cleared. Yugi had already gone through most of the explanation on how the Kaiba from this world somehow traveled to another dimension, to save Mokuba from Noah, and eventually returned home (though he couldn't figure out what that had to do with Mokuba being sick). Then the Kaiba from that world, that wasn't Kaiba but Seto, appeared here. So, the Kaiba from this world got some kind of device from a lady who was shacking up with this Kaiba (at least that's what Tristan had gotten from the conversation), and left to try to find this world and save Mokuba again. But this other Seto wanted to do it, so he got Yugi to cast some kind of spell from the Millennium Puzzle (by this time he thought this story was beyond ridiculous), which sent that Seto away, but caused from what he counted as 9 different Kaiba's to appear back here. Technically, what it comes down to is...this was all Yugi's fault. Tristan didn't even get to find out what happened to the lady staying with Kaiba in this world, yet. But, by that time...he didn't want to know. His head hurt enough listening to their nonsense. He was doing all he could just to keep from cracking, and acting like...well, himself. But if he did that, he'd give himself away. The other Kaiba should be here with the guards at any time now, so he couldn't allow that to happen.

After Tristan was gone, GSeto felt it was the best time to try and get away. He got up, and looked at Yugi with the most innocent eyes he could, stating, "I need to use the rest room...I'll be back." and rushed out of the room. He used Yugi, since he didn't want to even try to fool a version of himself, and he felt too awkward talking to any girl about anything - especially a bathroom break. Plus, the blond seemed way too cozy with a version of him to take a chance to talk to.

After he left the room, Joey gave snicker to think of hearing any Kaiba announce a bathroom break and run out of the room. "Man, I really need to buy a video camera. That had to be a Kodak moment!"

But many of the Kaiba's eyes narrowed, also thinking that was slightly out of character. And unlike MKaiba that gave them strange vibes that they should trust him, this one didn't give off those vibes. If anything, it was exactly the opposite.

"Maybe one of us should go check on the punk." VWKaiba muttered.

JKaiba stated, "We'll give him 5 minutes." But all the talk about distrust had actually started to sink in with JKaiba. Despite that he wouldn't trust that younger version as far as he could throw him, he still had a good point. No one saw any device working. This other Kaiba was supposedly on his way back with Angie, and when he made it there he'd help them all get home. But, what if this device wasn't made to send them back? Given, that's all any of them wanted was to return to their worlds. But, he also had a tendency to be very unpredictable at times.

Maybe this world held more technology worth taking from this Kaiba, before going back. Maybe one of them wanted to find information from all the other Kaiba's to use as an advantage in his own world. 'And maybe I'm just being paranoid.' he thought, glancing at the pocket that held his cell phone. He pulled it out, only to notice it didn't work in this world. JKaiba then carefully observed all the escape routes in this room, and tried to think up any way to trick another 'him' if faced to battle with himself. 'That would be difficult.' he thought.


	36. C36 Take Down!

_C36 Take Down!_

GSeto ran upstairs, and went into a room that offered a front window, which would allow him to see when this other version of him came back. 'How do I stop him?' he wondered. He couldn't think of a way. They were so much older and more experienced than him. They seemed so much better, smarter, and more confident than he was. Plus, they all automatically seemed to realize he couldn't be trusted.

'I could run away.' he thought. But then he'd never be with Mokuba. And if he stayed, they'd use that device to send him home. 'I have to see how that thing works.' he thought. If he could see how it works, then he'd know how to avoid it. Then he could maybe take the escape route.

'But they'd know what I'd do.' he thought. Not if they thought he had no intention of running. 'That might work!' he thought, but it was risky. He could wait till most of them were gone while watching how it worked, then go right up to be sent back as well. But instead of letting them, he'd instead snatch it quick and send the last remaining away, instead. And before someone could get it back...he could smash it!

It certainly wasn't the most complicated or ingenious plan in the world. But maybe that's why it would work. All the others would probably expect him to do something more well-planned. So, if he did something simple and quick, they wouldn't have the chance to do anything, until it was too late. Then he would finally be with Mokuba.

That's when a strange shot of guilt hit him. What about 'his' Mokuba...the one back home? 'Mokie...' For some reason, he never thought of that. He wouldn't actually be with his Mokuba...would he??

'It doesn't matter.' he thought, sadly. 'What could I do for him, but fail some more and cause more misery? He'd be better off without me. I can't seem to do anything right, anyway.' He was a failure. Even in this world, one Kaiba was trying to wander the universe to save another Mokuba. But what about his brother? To help another, he's failing his own. And all these other Kaiba's stuck here...maybe he caused that, too. And none of them seem to know what to do. No matter how old he is, he still can't seem to do anything right.

GSeto then noticed a vehicle coming to the gate. No...more than one. 'Why are there so many?' he wondered, suddenly having a feeling that something was very wrong.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

KTristan leaned against the counter, trying to waste time in here as long as possible without having to go back into that room. He wondered exactly what this other Kaiba's plans were in order to get one more body. If he was coming with the intention of giving them false information about sending them back, it meant a few things. He did have a device, but it would knock people out instead...or this Kaiba was going to go all out and try to render them all unconscious at once.

KTristan found it no surprise if this other him went overkill and planned on taking them all down. Then they could swap a body, and together they wake them up, claiming it was a mistake of some sort.

But KaibaS1's question returned back to his head, as he continued to think about it. 'What does he get out of it??' What indeed. Maybe this other Kaiba was simply doing this to know whom he could and couldn't trust. But wasn't there also a possibility he had his own interest that he didn't tell them about?

'But then, what would that be?' KTristan silently questioned to himself.

But before he could think any more on it, he suddenly felt the presence of another nearby. He turned to see...himself. Actually, it was one of the Kaiba's who had followed him, and he quickly realized this Kaiba was the oddball he was trying to avoid the most.

MKaiba eyed him warily, as he said, "I thought you wouldn't mind getting some help to get a drink. After all, since it's not your kitchen, you probably don't know where anything is...right??"

KTristan avoided eye contact from this one, muttering, "Of course." as he tried to refrain from his usual body movements of crossing his arms, and giving that 'go away' feeling to anyone around him.

MKaiba went to the fridge, and opened it, asking, "What would you like?"

The whole scene looked wrong to KTristan. As himself, he never played the friendly host, and would certainly not care what a person wanted to drink. Eyeing him curiously, KTristan put on another fake smile in an attempt to act like one of Yugi's idiot friends. He then shrugged, saying, "Just give me whatever you like. It doesn't matter to me."

MKaiba was so concentrated on KTristan's every movement, that he didn't even think much on what he was doing, himself. "Okay." MKaiba said, grabbing a container from the fridge and pouring a glass of red liquid. "Here, this is my favorite..." he said. An instant after he said it and noticed the eye subtly rising on KTristan, he gulped and stuttered out, "I-I mean...my brother's favorite."

A cool dark smirk began to uncharacteristically appear on KTristan, as he said, "Your brother's favorite...hmm? That's interesting, I thought a moment ago you said it was 'your' favorite." He then began to approach MKaiba, causing that version of Kaiba to back away fearfully, as he said, "So, since when does Seto Kaiba stutter? And since when does he show fear towards anyone, or decide to play the oh-so pleasant host?" Now practically up in MKaiba's face, KTristan hissed, "Why don't you tell me who you 'really' are?"

Suddenly changing from fear to aggression, MKaiba took a step back but said in defiance, "And why don't you... 'Tristan'?? Because you obviously don't act like him. Why don't you tell me who 'you' really are!"

KTristan hesitated, realizing he probably shouldn't have acted that way. Even if he was right about this Kaiba, even if this was Mokuba, it didn't mean that he was 'his' Mokuba...did it? Could he trust telling this one? It could blow his plans. KTristan sighed, and said, "All right...this is what we'll do. We'll both come clean, and agree that this secret will be kept with each other and no one else, no matter what the reason...agreed?"

"Okay." MKaiba said.

"Promise." KTristan ordered.

"I promise." he said. Then retorted, "You, too!"

"Fine...I swear. Not without your approval." KTristan said, quickly adding in a sub clause, just incase.

They then stared hesitantly at each other, as MKaiba said, "You first."

He gave a smirk, saying, "I think you all ready know who I am...Mokuba. I'm your brother." Then glancing towards the living room, he added, "Well...one of them, I guess."

"How did you turn into Tristan?" Mokuba asked.

"I answered first who I am. It's now your turn." KTristan said. "How did you end up looking like me?"

MKaiba looked down sadly, saying, "Well...it was your decision, actually. You...you put me into this body."

KTristan's breath hitched as Mokuba said it, but not for the same reason that MKaiba had thought; He assumed KTristan was shocked and fearful over such a possibility. Yet, unknown to Mokuba, KTristan had already been there. "Let me guess." KTristan said, without even giving him a chance to finish the story. "You were dying, your brother was out of options, he did the one thing he thought could save you. And now your brother remains in the computer system of Kaiba Corp, helping you anytime he can."

MKaiba looked up in shock. "Uh...well, yeah. But how did...??"

"M-Mokuba..." KTristan said, stuttering for the first time, as hope was trying to seep inside. "I didn't exchange bodies...I didn't have one to begin with."

"...Seto?" Mokuba asked, fighting back tears. All at once, the two embraced, as they began to realize the other might be the real brother of the other, and not just one from another dimension.

Suddenly another Kaiba voice interrupted their pleasant reunion, as VWKaiba said gruffly, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything..."

Since the 5 minutes were up, VWKaiba volunteered to go and find where GSeto went. His first stop was the kitchen to see if he went there. But, seeing one of the Kaiba's hugging Tristan was not something he was expecting.

They both immediately pulled apart and looked over at VWKaiba, whose arms were crossed with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. KTristan was frantically reading the other Kaiba that approached, and from his lack of expression, he'd guessed he didn't get the chance to hear what any of them had to say. He must have simply walked in and noticed them embracing. MKaiba looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and KTristan felt he had to do something to protect Mokuba's identity. What would be another excuse for this happening?

So, KTristan put on his best outward embarrassed look that he could, and snapped at the both of them, "You guys are everywhere! Next time, 'Kaiba' why don't you stay out of my way, and stop running into me. You're acting just like that other weird Kaiba is around Joey!"

At first, MKaiba looked at KTristan aghast, but quickly recovered realizing what he was up to, as KTristan quickly walked away back to the living room. And sure enough, that seemed to work, as VWKaiba eyed him with surprise, saying, "You, too? What's with you people?" He quickly headed into the kitchen, as he continued to muttered, "The rest of you can't possibly be clones of me...I couldn't imagine acting this way in my worst nightmares!"

MKaiba had to keep himself from laughing, as he turned to head back into the living room. But before he could, the doorbell rang. MKaiba stopped and turned, heading for the door. But as MKaiba headed that way, he could hear KTristan practically running up, saying, "That's probably the others...I'll get it!"

MKaiba stopped, wondering why his brother was so anxious to get the door, or was this his way of pretending to be Tristan? He still had to figure out how and why he was in Tristan's body in the first place, as well as...where was the real Tristan in the first place?

KTristan quickly stopped him, muttering quietly, "Let me get this. Why don't you go to your room for now."

"What's going on, Seto?" MKaiba asked.

KTristan sighed, saying, "I'll explain later. Trust me...this is for the best, for everyone involved."

MKaiba wasn't sure what to think of this, but he trusted his brother. So, he nodded, and headed upstairs towards his brother's old room. But on his way, he stopped and peaked around the corner to see what was going on.

As KTristan answered the door, MKaiba saw yet another Kaiba with hoards of guards surrounding him, all pulling out their weapons, aiming at KTristan at the moment. KTristan did not look concerned though, and nodded respectfully at DTKaiba. Closing his eyes and putting on a cocky grin, he imperiously held up one hand, causing the guards to lower their weapons to him.

DTKaiba now asked, "Where are they?"

KTristan answered, "One is in the kitchen, all the others are together in the living room." unaware that GSeto had left the room after he did.

"And Yugi's group?" DTKaiba asked.

KTristan nodded, "They're there, as well." He then glanced at the guards, before asking, "I hope you made sure the guards are aware of what they're about to see."

"Don't worry." DTKaiba grinned evilly, "They've been prepared, and told all about the 'impostors'." DTKaiba then turned to the guards, saying, "You heard him. Now take care of the problem."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba." the head guard said, as they charged ahead.

MKaiba was presently at the top of the stairs, quietly looking down at what was going on. He was horrified to see the guards all charge forward, as they surrounded the two areas of the house. There was yelling on both sides, and he turned pale hearing gunfire. No...he realized by the sound from the guns wasn't right. They weren't guns, they were tranquilizers.

MKaiba let out his breath, now relived that no one was injured, but was still worried about why this was happening. Why did his brother plan this? And why was he working with this one other version of him? Mokuba was also getting some bad vibes from this newest Seto Kaiba, but he didn't know why. Whatever it was, he had a feeling that this one was different from all the others. He somehow felt...dangerous.

"Looks like we're being invaded."

MKaiba almost jumped ten feet in the air from the voice next to him. It was GSeto now watching next to him. "The pointy-haired one...he's like me too, isn't he?"

MKaiba sadly nodded.

GSeto smiled sadly and looked down. "I never thought I could become Gozaburo. How could it have happened?"

"Y-your not him." MKaiba said, looking back down at DTKaiba. Is that was he was sensing? Could this version of his brother be 'that' evil?

As this chaos was going on around them, KTristan asked, "Where's the other one?"

DTKaiba simply shrugged, saying, "He needed a trim. He said he'd meet us in a little while."

KTristan simply nodded in understanding.

They then walked into the living room and as DTKaiba looked around, he suddenly realized the count was wrong. He clearly remembered there were at least 5 other versions and he only counted 4. It was now DTKaiba's turn to ask, "Where's the other one?"

"The other one?" KTristan asked. He quickly realized GSeto was missing, which could be a serious problem. Yet at the same time, he didn't want the guards to storm upstairs where he probably was, and attack his brother, instead.

"I know there were at least 5. Now, where's the last Kaiba?" DTKaiba asked.

"Actually, there's two more." KTristan said. "Another one appeared on your way here."

"Oh?" DTKaiba asked, as he began to wonder if there were still more to arrive. "You said they were all here. Why are we missing two?"

"I went in the kitchen for a minute. The other one must have went upstairs." KTristan said.

DTKaiba turned to KTristan, glaring slightly up at him. "Maybe you didn't hear me well. We're missing 2. You mentioned one of them...where's the last one?"

"The second one is not a problem. He's also upstairs in our bedroom. But, I don't want the guards harming this one...understand? He's with us." KTristan said, sounding almost...protective.

DTKaiba looked annoyed by this, saying curtly, "I didn't say we can recruit anyone else. It's difficult to trust each other. So...why so protective? I never realized you could have a liking to yourself before. This is new."

It was an obvious taunt, but KTristan didn't get angry from it. If anything...he seemed to expect it. Instead, KTristan avoided eye contact with the other, saying, "I promised this one I wouldn't give away his secret. You're just going to have to trust me on this."

"Well...I'm afraid I don't trust you. So, unless you tell me why I should protect this one, we're going to take him down as well. So, what's it going to be, spike-head? You tell me, or he falls..." DTKaiba snapped, not understanding this one's attempt in protecting another in the least.

KTristan glanced in the direction to where MKaiba went, causing him and GSeto both to quickly duck away to avoid being seen.

Despite them trying to hide though, KTristan still saw them both. He didn't like the idea of Mokuba hanging with another version of himself...especially the younger one. But it was still understandable for Mokuba to do so. The hard part was going to be trying to get his brother to understand why he was doing this. 'He's not going to understand at all.' he realized, which meant this whole plan could fall apart very easily, if they let Mokuba's guilt get the best of them.

Either way, he KTristan felt bad enough knowing he was going to have to break a promise to him, yet again. He finally turned back to DTKaiba, and quietly muttered, "He's really Mokuba... 'my' Mokuba. Just...don't tell him I said anything, okay? I promised I wouldn't say anything to anyone without his approval."

KTristan may not have trusted DTKaiba as far as he could throw him, but he did believe when it came to Mokuba he could trust him. No matter what this Kaiba was like, KTristan was certain that none of them would ever think of harming their own brother. But then, most Kaiba's had done all in their power to bury the past of what they once became, desperately trying to forget it...which is why it never even dawned on him just how dangerous this one might be. KTristan in fact trusted this one more than GSeto, due to his age, never realizing the true enemy was right before him.

DTKaiba smiled and nodded, saying, "I understand. Just allow me to alert the guards on avoiding that room." DTKaiba snapped his finger, causing a good percentage of the guards to return to him. "Roland, is everyone taken care of ?"

"Everyone is knocked out cold, Mr. Kaiba." the head guard said.

DTKaiba smiled calmly, saying, "Good. Subdue this one, as well." He added, nodding to KTristan in front of him.

"What??" KTristan asked, in surprise. But he had no time to react, as one of the guards immediately shot him in the back with a tranquilizer dart.

With the look of surprise still on KTristan's face, MKaiba had to watch in horror as his brother fell to the ground.

The dizziness quickly took claim of him, but he was not out yet. DTKaiba stood over him, saying, "And don't worry about that 'guest' of yours in my bedroom...I'll make sure my guards take care of him, as well." DTKaiba then laughed coldly, as the blackness finally took claim of KTristan.

They didn't hear what KTristan said to this other Kaiba, but DTKaiba was definitely loud enough in his reply, for both MKaiba and GSeto to hear what was said. GSeto turned to look at MKaiba in fear, as if to silently ask him, 'Weren't you in the bedroom?'

MKaiba looked back at GSeto with the same look of fear, and nodded...seeming to understand the silent question. GSeto asked, "That pointy haired guy didn't know who you are...did he?" he quietly asked.

"What do you mean?" MKaiba asked in fear.

GSeto said, "You know...you're not me. You know you're not."

MKaiba looked down in shame. "How long have you known?"

"In the living room, when you defended me. Why would I protect myself?" GSeto asked.

He knew that was probably a dead give-away, but he couldn't let his brother attack himself like that. "Yeah...he knows." MKaiba replied, grateful that he didn't push the question about himself further. He didn't want to tell GSeto why he looked like a future version of his brother, instead of himself.

After MKaiba's response, he could instantly see the panic increase in GSeto tenfold, coming to the same understanding that MKaiba was having. If Tristan knew...if he told DTKaiba in hopes to keep him safe, as any Kaiba might do, and was taken down for it...that would mean this Kaiba for some reason didn't care in the least about Mokuba's welfare.

MKaiba immediately grabbed GSeto by the hand that instant and ran with him up the stairs, quickly saying, "It's not your fault, Seto. He's not like you. No version of my brother would do anything to hurt me...you have to believe that! There must be something wrong with him. Maybe he's brainwashed, maybe we're wrong and he doesn't really know the truth, or maybe this one really 'is' an imposter..."

The guilt was all ready pouring through GSeto as he thought how one version of him would betray Mokuba. 'No. He's wrong...I would betray him.' he sadly thought. Hadn't he all ready betrayed his brother, by leaving him in the orphanage, giving up on him, and now trying to make plans on staying here and never going back? 'I betrayed him. It's my fault...' he thought, blaming himself for what DTKaiba was doing.

In the distance, they could all ready hear DTKaiba spouting commands to find MKaiba and take him down. MKaiba immediately tried to direct himself towards his own bedroom. But, GSeto stopped him quick, saying, "Are you crazy? We can't stay here. We have to take the emergency exit!"

"But the other Mokuba is still in the bedroom!" MKaiba explained.

GSeto quickly realized he was right. He couldn't let Mokuba stay in there to also be possibly harmed. This version of himself seemed insane and ready to dispose of just about anyone and anything. 'I betrayed him.' he thought in his head again. At once, GSeto felt he really did deserve all the pain he had gone through, and all the torture that Noah had done to him. No...he deserved more than that. If Mokuba couldn't escape from here, he was about to be responsible for Mokuba getting captured from his own self...possibly even killed.

They immediately ran to the bedroom, where the sick Mokuba had returned to some time ago, and was presently sleeping.

They kept the lights off. GSeto locked and watched the door, as MKaiba shook Mokuba awake...quickly after, putting his hand over his mouth. Mokuba was startled, unsure why he was being woken up, and why this Kaiba was covering his mouth, as he tried to muffle out his retaliation.

"Shhh!" MKaiba said. "They'll hear you!" He finally pulled his hand away, as he continued to whisper, "Listen...we gotta get out of here, we're in danger. There's another Seto that just appeared, and this one's crazy or something! He just brought the guards and knocked everyone out!"

Mokuba groaned, assuming this one was probably just as paranoid as his own brother, and probably just assumed they're all fakes except for himself. This one undoubtedly woke up by himself, and didn't realize the world had changed around him. And since he wasn't with the other versions of himself to be updated on what happened, Mokuba believed that he probably assumed the worst and over-reacted.

"Fine, let me up." Mokuba croaked out. He got up, putting his brother's sweater on and some shoes, then said, "I'll take care of it..."

"No you're not!" GSeto whispered back at him, causing Mokuba to stop. So, there were two were in here.

MKaiba touched his shoulder, saying, "He's right...there's nothing you can do. We have to get out of here now, before it's too late."

"Sir...I heard a voice in there!" a guard suddenly said to another outside the hallway, causing both GSeto and MKaiba to freeze up in fear. Before either of them knew it, the door slammed opened, pointing guns at both MKaiba and Mokuba, as they prepared to fire.

Mokuba stood up and cried out, "Stop this!!"

All at once the guards froze, realizing it was Mokuba himself in the room. One of them cried out to Mokuba, "Mr. Kaiba, this person in the room with you is 'not' your brother! Please stand clear!"

GSeto was tight against the wall to the side of the guards, and at the moment...none of them saw him. He wasn't sure what to do. Should he attack? There were too many. But if he didn't, Mokuba could get hurt. But he's never retaliated against guards before! What could he do? 'If I can cause a distraction, maybe they could still both be safe.' he thought. It was worth the sacrifice. For Mokuba...it was always worth it. And yet, no matter how he tried, he couldn't make himself move...too overwhelmed by his own fear.

Mokuba made sure to stand in front of MKaiba to ensure his safety, as he said, "You're not shooting anyone! Put your guns down!"

"This person is a potential threat to you, sir...a possible terrorist. I highly advise you step away from the impostor!" the guard said.

"He is no threat to me." Mokuba said. "And I am ordering you to stand down!"

There was now hesitation in the guard's voice, as he said, "But I...have orders from your brother, sir."

"And how do you know that 'he's' not an impostor?" Mokuba asked. When there was no answer from the guard, Mokuba sighed, and said, "Listen...I'll go talk to my brother. Until we get this worked out, I am advising you to order the other guards back, right now!"

Finally, the guards lowered their weapons, saying, "Yes, Mr. Kaiba." and began to back away. MKaiba finally let out the breath he seemed to be holding the entire time, not even realizing it.

GSeto also released his breath, feeling a mix of pride in his brother and shame in himself for being so weak and helpless to do anything for him. His own fear was only proof that he was right about himself. Even now, he couldn't save his brother.

It caused a growing frustration in himself that he could allow himself to be so weak and not be there for him. Could this be the real reason why he had not been able to help his brother where he was from? He had givin up, assuming there was no way to save him. But maybe he was wrong...maybe there was still hope to save his brother. Maybe his own fears were what was really getting in the way of protecting him, just like what happened now. 'I wont let that happen again, Mokuba.' he quietly told himself. 'I promise you, I wont let anything get in the way again...no matter what.'

Mokuba looked up at MKaiba, and said, "Well, come on...we'll get this taken care of."

"I don't think it's safe to go down there." MKaiba said.

Mokuba just smiled, saying, "Just because you don't trust yourself, doesn't mean you wouldn't trust me. Come on..."

MKaiba couldn't help but smile at his own logic, but then remembering what he had witnessed, he called out, "No, Mokuba...wait!" But he was already 1/2 way down the hall.

MKaiba glanced at GSeto and said, "Stay here...I'll get him." He then turned back towards the door and moved quickly to catch up. When he was caught up, MKaiba then followed behind, as some small attempt to protect him. It would be what his brother would want.

GSeto watched them both leave, a new found fire burning in his eyes. Even now, he could feel the fear of not wanting to leave...not wanting to get hurt again. But for the first time in a very long time, he buried that fear...now determined to protect Mokuba, no matter what the cost to himself. He hoped Mokuba was right, and they were both mistaken from what they saw. Maybe DTKaiba would not try to harm him when they saw him. But he had a feeling, that was not going to happen...Mokuba was walking to his doom. 'I will protect you, Mokuba...no matter what.'

GSeto then quietly slipped from the room, following them from a distance and waiting for the right time to do whatever he might have to do, in order to help him out.

DTKaiba was not pleased when his guards returned empty-handed. He was even less pleased when he heard that they had been ordered by his brother not to fire.

DTKaiba stood there in all his glory, surrounded by his guards, and looking up at the massive staircase, when Mokuba began to head down the first flight of stairs. MKaiba was behind him, and stopped him by grabbing hold of his sweater...preventing Mokuba from going any further...keeping him from taking the other set of stairs down to reach the first floor.

Mokuba looked up at him for only a moment for MKaiba to shake his head slightly, in concern for him, trying to warn him of the danger. But Mokuba simply sighed, hoping MKaiba would understand the situation by now. He'd have to talk to this particular 'brother' from here. He then turned back, ready to face this newest Kaiba.

DTKaiba watched his brother with cold interest, almost feeling some sort of respect towards Mokuba, who looked down at him with such strength and defiance in his eyes. Without looking away from his newest opponent, he said to the guards, "I had given you an order to take care of the impostor...I will not have my orders disobeyed."

"Seto...why are you doing this? These people aren't a threat to you." Mokuba said, sniffling because of his cold.

"You have no right to interfere." DTKaiba said coldly.

Mokuba snapped, "I have every right! This is my home, and these are my guests."

Then a hint of a smile formed on his face, as DTKaiba said, "No...this is not your home. Guards, take him down, as well."

Mokuba's eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend what he had just heard.

And DTKaiba noticed even now, the guards were still hesitating. He snapped angrily, "Do you all have a hearing problem? I said 'shoot him'!!"

And to make a point for them, DTKaiba snatched the gun out of one of the guards' hands himself, aimed it right at Mokuba, then with a feral grin on his face, fired the gun.

"No!!" GSeto cried out, as he jumped in front of Mokuba, taking the hit.

Mokuba cried out, "Seto!!" as both him and MKaiba helplessly watched GSeto slide limply down the second set of stairs.

GSeto smiled weakly at them, saying, "I didn't fail, this time...run."

Before DTKaiba or any other guard could take a second shot...MKaiba grabbed Mokuba, then quickly turned and ran with him back up the second flight of stairs. A few tears trickled down his face, as the picture of GSeto falling stayed clearly in his head.

Mokuba was still in shock, as he finally cried out again, "Seto!! We can't leave...we have to get him! He's hurt!!"

"We have to go. They're not gun shots, they're tranquilizers. We can't help them if we're taken down, too!" MKaiba said, using his other hand to wipe the tears off.

"But, why did he shoot at me?? Seto wouldn't do that!!" Mokuba insisted, refusing to believe what he just saw.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

DTKaiba turned to his guards after they left, and snapped, "What the hell is the matter with you people? If you fired when I first told you to, we could have had all three of them!"

The guard looked surprised at him, as he said, "B-but...that's Mokuba Kaiba!"

"Sure it was...and I suppose the person that was cowering behind him was me. The 'real' Mokuba I all ready called and made arrangements for him to be safe and far away from here. I assure you, that is 'not' the real Mokuba Kaiba!" DTKaiba yelled at them.

He then aimed the gun at the guard that questioned him and fired, causing him to fall to the ground as the others backed away. "Anyone else that tries to betray me will next time get more than just a tranquilizer shot. I will not accept disobedience!!"

"Y-yes, sir!" they all said in fear.

He smiled, "Good. I'm glad we have an understanding. Now, find them and take them both down!"

The guards nodded and quickly charged up the stairs, while DTKaiba found a couple more guards to clean GSeto up. He then turned and walked back into the living room, making sure the guards had no problems cleaning up the others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba and MKaiba didn't have time to go to where the main secret passage way was. So instead, Mokuba directed him back to his room. Mokuba moved them to the closet, opened the secret entrance and were both about to slip in, when they heard, "Freeze!!"

They both froze, MKaiba's back facing a guard who was holding a real gun to his back, since this was the guard DTKaiba took the tranquilizer gun from. "Don't make me have to shoot. Mr. Kaiba would prefer you intruders to be alive."

MKaiba then looked down at Mokuba who was smiling and holding up a bat for him. MKaiba knowingly smiled back down at him, as he said to the guard, "Okay, okay...we're coming out."

As the guard backed away to let them back out, MKaiba slowly back out, then abruptly turned, smacking the guy in the side of the face. The man landed...out cold.

"Hope I didn't hurt him too bad." MKaiba muttered. "It's not his fault."

"He'll be fine." Mokuba said. "Let's just get out of here!"

MKaiba took the body and shoved him under the bed, so he couldn't be seen. He then moves back to where the guard was and noticed the gun laying there. He then bent down and picked it up.

Mokuba saw what he was doing, and blurted out, "We're not supposed to play with guns...Seto's rules!"

Instinctively, MKaiba dropped the gun quickly and kicked it away, also remembering the rules. Then he looked at Mokuba and their eyes locked. Mokuba wasn't sure why he had even said it. All he knew was seeing MKaiba holding the gun, and Seto's words of no touching guns hit him. But now MKaiba feared that Mokuba had no doubt on who he really was.

But they didn't get a chance to talk, as they heard more guards in the hallway. MKaiba quickly pushed Mokuba back into the closet and closed the door, as they slid into his secret exit just before more guards came in to further investigate. They squeezed down the narrow hallway, making it to the ventilation shoot to the first floor.

Once on the first floor, Mokuba stopped.

"What's wrong?" MKaiba asked.

"When this is over, will you tell me who you are?"

"What?"

"I said, when this is over, will tell me who you are? I don't know how but something tells me we know each other. But, one thing's for sure...you are not Seto."

"I don't know...we'll see. Now, lets go."

"But, this still doesn't make sense...none of it! Seto would never act that way. Maybe after seeing so many him's, he just assumed I wasn't me, either. Do you think maybe he was only being paranoid?" Mokuba asked, as he started moving forward again.

"I don't know...do you really think Seto would take the chance of it not being you?" MKaiba asked.

Mokuba shook his head no, unable to believe that, but he still added, "Well, it was a tranquilizer, right?" trying to ignore the sadistic grin his saw on his brother's face when he fired the gun. "Maybe that meant he still had no real intention to hurt me."

"I don't know, Mokuba. We'll just have to figure it out later."

"Okay." Mokuba said, and then quickly darted out the secret door to the outside.

"Hello, Mokuba." Kaiba's voice said to him, now that he was outside.

Mokuba squeaked in surprise.

MKaiba froze when he heard another Kaiba's voice outside and Mokuba's startled sound. 'Damn, is it that evil one? How could he have found us?'

Mokuba looked up, hoping to see his own brother back. But, instead standing there was DTKaiba, still holding the tranquilizer gun, which he was casually aiming right at him. "Did you think I wouldn't figure out how you planned on escaping? After all, I was the one that helped design the route...remember? Where's the other one that helped you escape?"

Mokuba blinked, startled from what he was saying. He then got up and said, "Gone. He told me to escape this way, and he'd distract the guards and find another way out. I don't get it, Seto...why are you doing this? You sound like you all ready know I really 'am' me."

"Oh, that's right...you're expecting me to coddle you, like all those other versions of myself were doing. Well, I'm afraid I don't play their pathetic game. Obviously, those other versions of me are weak, and just as pathetic as you are. That's why I'm winning this game."

"Game? But..." Mokuba muttered. His eyes then narrowed, saying, "Wait a minute. If you don't care so much, then why are you just putting everyone to sleep?"

DTKaiba gave a cold laugh, saying, "That's easy. What's the fun of destroying and humiliating Yugi, if I don't have an audience to witness his downfall? And who better as a witness than all the other versions of me that had somehow failed in the attempt. I will prove to them all that I am the only true Seto Kaiba, the one worthy of that name! But, don't worry, little brother...they'll have their time to die, soon enough."

Mokuba then snapped at him, "So then, why are you so worried about me? Are you 'afraid' I might have the power to stop you, Seto??"

"Don't push your luck, brat. You couldn't do anything right now, if you tried." DTKaiba snapped back.

Mokuba asked, "Then why are you so worried about what I do? You got Yugi, already."

DTKaiba glared down at Mokuba in contempt. He absolutely hated Mokuba...he possessed everything that he lacked, and reminded him of everything that he once was. He was once weak and pathetic, just like Mokuba. But, he would crush those memories, even if it meant he had to crush Mokuba to do it. "Shut up!" DTKaiba snapped. "You disgust me! Everything about you is pathetic! No matter where I am, I can't seem to escape the shadow of you cringing behind me at all times. It makes me sick, just looking at you!"

Mokuba was shaking, listening to this, and finally cried out, "No, 'you' shut up! You are not my 'real' brother! The real Seto would never say such things to me! My brother cares about me...all you care about is yourself and hurting people! You're no better than our stepfather!"

Mokuba was suddenly cracked in the face by DTKaiba's hand, causing him to land hard against the ground. He looked up in shock and horror at his brother's cold and hate-filled eyes. "I am 'better' than he is." he hissed. "My only weakness has ever been you! Gozaburo was right. I should have just left you there at the orphanage, instead of adding more baggage to my life! I was stupid and weak then, letting myself worry about something more than myself."

DTKaiba then laughed madly, adding, "What a fool I was then! I could have left years before. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even had to be in that damn place!"

Mokuba's eyes were free-flowing with tears by then, hearing his own questions and insecurities slipping so easily from DTKaiba's mouth. Mokuba always felt that his brother would have been better off without him. His own brother told him that was never true. But now the things DTKaiba was spouting was exactly what Mokuba had wondered, had feared. '...it's true...'

But DTKaiba just kept talking, as he now spat out, "To this day, I often wondered why Gozaburo never sent your ass back there. Not like I would have objected or anything..." mocking him further.

Mokuba was crying so hard now, that he barely was able to say. "Then why do you care if I see your victory or not? If what you say is true...then you've already got everyone you need to witness it. It shouldn't matter to you if I'm there or not. What could I do to stop you?"

DTKaiba then yelled, "Fine! Then, go run away like the pathetic little rat you are! What do I care? Maybe this'll finally teach your other brother's a better lesson. While they fought to try and protect you, all you did was run away. You make me sick! Get out of my sight...and don't come back! There's no place for you here!"

The words and actions stung him. But, Mokuba ran, anyway. He knew he couldn't do anything while imprisoned with the others. He had to find help...but where? He finally knew what version of his brother that was. All the others he felt a warm, loving, safe and secure feeling from. He felt the exact opposite from him. He realized that this version must have been before Yugi's penalty game at Death T. It was the only way Mokuba could explain why this Seto hated him so. It was the only time Mokuba ever remembered his brother hating him this much.

DTKaiba had conflicts within him, after Mokuba ran off. Part of him was angry at himself for leaving such a loose end to wander around. And Mokuba was right...inside, he truly wanted his brother there to witness his victory. Whether it was for him to cheer for him at the sidelines like he always did, or to crush his and all the other Kaiba's hopes, he wasn't quite sure. Either way, he had let him go.

There was even a small part that actually felt relief for doing so, knowing he was now safe. Again, that part was quickly squashed, insisting he didn't care about him. But most of him decided that Mokuba really wasn't worth bothering with. 'Besides...' he thought. 'It probably wouldn't be long before he runs into our final group, arriving here to witness my triumph.' Once again, DTKaiba laughed madly, as he headed back into the mansion.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba was so scared, he didn't know what to do. He had heard the whole thing, and felt the same heart ache as Mokuba did. Trying to control his own crying, he kept thinking, 'I was right all along. Seto never needed me...I was just a burden. Look at me! I even have his body! He lost his life for me. Why did I ever have to be born? Why do I always seem to cause so much pain to him???'

"You can come out now." the voice of Kaiba said to the sniffling noises inside the tunnel.

MKaiba was terrified, never realizing that the evil Kaiba might still be there. 'No! It's him! He found me!'


	37. C37 Cloak and Dagger

_C37 Cloak and Dagger_

When the eruption of guards hit the living room, all hell broke loose. SMKaiba seemed to be the cockiest, assuming the guards would blindly listen to him, as he erupted in anger for daring to be disturbed. He learned quickly, after being shot.

MEKaiba was the closest to the doorway, and made the attempt to confuse the guards and rush them. If he could take one out, he could use the guy as a shield, while he used that guard's gun to take the others down. What he didn't count on was among the guards was another version of himself, who all ready saw the move well ahead of time and took him down, himself.

VWKaiba actually picked up the small coffee table and began to lunge at the guards with it. It was a good plan, really. The table became a good shield for the darts, while he could use the table to attack his opponents, as well. But there were too many, and he couldn't reach DTKaiba fast enough to try and take him down with it. DTKaiba smiled watching him fall.

All of Yugi's group simply turned towards the guards and stared dumbly, while the shots rang out, hitting them...all except KTristan, who was walking in with the guards, like he was good friends with them.

As Yugi's group fell, so did JKaiba...but not because of a tranquilizer hit, though he had hoped the guards would assume that was the case. Since that argument between KTristan and GSeto, he had been thinking about if faced with another version of himself, how to fight him and yet not be predictable. The only answer was to do something out of character. But it's hard to know what to do in such a situation, when one wasn't sure how an attack would occur.

But after seeing the event unfold, instead of finding a way to move forward, he feigned death. After all, who would think that a Kaiba would play possum? He considered his pre-planned escape route, but it would take too long. The mansion's windows were bullet proof, and it would take time to slide it open and jump out. Plus, unlike Duelist Kingdom where he was facing real stupid guards...he was instead fighting himself. And any version of Kaiba would assume he's still alive, after leaping out of something, no matter how high it was.

Surprisingly...playing dead seemed to work. The new Kaiba was too busy betraying his new ally Tristan to bother inspecting the bodies. Tristan was for some reason foolishly trying to protect another version of him. JKaiba had no idea why or what this secret was he was quietly muttering to DTKaiba about. But since he had Tristan knocked out as well, it obviously no longer mattered.

JKaiba was able to hear shouts from this new Kaiba, and was fearful to hear what sounded like Mokuba's voice. Fortunately, since DTKaiba sounded angry, JKaiba could assume he had escaped. Escaping from danger was definitely one of Mokuba's many talents...hell he was certainly experienced enough, and JKaiba was pleased to find his own brother to be a challenge even to himself.

After threatening the guards, DTKaiba returned to the living room, tranquilizer gun in hand, and ordered his men to pick Yugi up. Watching the limp form, he said, "Wake up, Yugi. I know you can hear me."

"Sir...he's been tranquilized." the confused guard explained.

DTKaiba turned to him and snapped, "I know that!!" as he approached and ripped the dart from Yugi's form. "Are you afraid to face me, now??"

JKaiba understood. Yugi was tranquilized. But, that didn't mean the 'other' one was. Sure enough, the taunts did the trick, as the puzzle glowed for a moment and to the guard's surprise...Yami lifted his head. He stood, trying to futilely pull away from the guards, then snapped, "Kaiba...what is the meaning of this? Why are you attacking everyone?"

DTKaiba grinned, pleased to face the 'other' Yugi, once again. It was his drug...one of the few things left that made him feel truly alive. He would crush Yugi for daring to stand up to him! "Don't worry, Yugi...you'll find out soon enough. I have a game I'm setting up just for you. And this game, I intend to win."

He then turned to the guards, saying, "Take him downstairs, along with the others, and make sure they can't go anywhere. I'll deal with them soon. First, I have a rat to catch, before he escapes my maze."

JKaiba thought about what rat he meant. Perhaps it was GSeto. He was the one that didn't trust DTKaiba, after all. '...or maybe it's Mokuba.' JKaiba thought, worried. Mokuba might have slipped by, but all the Kaiba's easily knew the escape routes out. If Mokuba used any of them, he'd be able to be found. JKaiba knew he had to get out of there soon, to ensure Mokuba's safety.

Fortunately, he found his opportunity. The guards had left, dragging limp bodies and Yugi away, leaving him alone. He stood, and glanced over at Joey for just a moment...not wanting to let him stay in danger. But obviously this Kaiba wanted them alive, or they'd all be shot with bullets. Besides, JKaiba decided Joey would slow him down. Plus, if caught trying to rescue him, Joey would be seen as an obvious weakness, later. And that's what it was...a weakness. As much as his Joey tried to convince him otherwise, he knew full well that opening up to another could potentially hurt him. Joey just didn't understand.

Taking no further time, he slipped out the window and closed it up before the guards could come back. And when they did, they assumed he was all ready taken by another guard. By the time they figured it out, he'd be safe...and hopefully with Mokuba.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

JKaiba had successfully escaped and immediately headed in the direction of the exit to the escape route, hoping to find and protect his brother.

But, he was too late...the other Kaiba was all ready there, gun in hand. And whatever he had said to Mokuba, it left him in tears, making JKaiba want to lunge out and kill him for making his brother feel so miserable. Fortunately, it looked like whatever Mokuba said had also convinced him to let him go.

Mokuba ran off and DTKaiba was looking even more unstable than before. It was becoming frighteningly clear why this particular version was so much more heartless than the others. JKaiba could see the pattern, the attitude, the lack of caring about anything...even himself. DTKaiba was the very embodiment of what JKaiba feared GSeto might be or might become. But GSeto wasn't the threat, at all.

If there's anything JKaiba wanted to ever kill, it was this particular Kaiba. But killing him would be too charitable. He deserved his fate and the pain for his crimes and failures.

DTKaiba left shortly after, and JKaiba came out with the intent to chase after Mokuba. But he stopped, hearing sniffing in the vent and realized someone was still in there. He quietly approached, then muttered, "Come out. I know you're in there."

The sniffing stopped and instantly became all quiet, as if whoever was in there was hoping he would just turn and walk away. JKaiba was trying to think who it was. Since Mokuba ran off, the only options left were MKaiba and GSeto, since they were upstairs. Could it be the younger version? It made him sick to his stomach that any possible version of himself would start to cry. Maybe it was dusty in there, making his sinuses act up.

Agitated, he snapped, "I said, you can come out now." Maybe he was injured. That would be more believable, since he knows he would have immediately come out to defend Mokuba, and not have him face that other version alone. Something wasn't adding up, and he wanted answers.

MKaiba reluctantly came out, keeping his head down in fear and pain since he thought it was still DTKaiba. Those terrible words were still ringing in his ears, and all he could think of was how he had made his brother's life a living hell.

His actions only angered JKaiba more, seeing any version of him acting so pathetic. "Look at me!" he snapped, disgusted with what looked like himself crying like a child. Yes, this was the one he kept having those strange feelings of protection towards. But he didn't understand why. Why did he trust this one?

MKaiba slowly looked up at him, and his eyes suddenly widened a bit, realizing it wasn't DTKaiba, but another. But, which one was it? For all MKaiba knew, maybe it was the actual brother of this world's Mokuba. He should be able to tell the difference, but he was so upset over everything he couldn't focus.

JKaiba blinked, looking at him. MKaiba looked like him, blubbering like an idiot. But, those eyes, those sad eyes...there was no longer any way of mistaking the truth. "Mokuba..."

MKaiba couldn't take the pressure anymore, and came to JKaiba, holding onto him as he cried into his clothes. "I'm sorry, Seto! I tried to be strong. But, he's right! If I was never around, you would have never had all these problems, and..."

"Stop it. Stop it!" JKaiba snapped, gripping his arms. "I will not listen to this! We've talked about this before. You know damn well that's not true! I would have never been able to do any of this without you! That monster that talked to Mokuba a minute ago is what I probably would have 'still' been if it wasn't for you. Don't ever think of lowering your importance in front of me."

"But, it's true!" MKaiba spat. "My Seto died because of me! Why do you think I look like this? I didn't grow to become like you...you died because of me!!"

JKaiba hesitated, as MKaiba cried on him. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell anyone. That's why I kept it a secret. I didn't want to hurt anyone..."

"Is he really dead?" JKaiba asked.

MKaiba sniffled. "He might as well be. He sucked himself into a computer, like Noah was in Virtual Reality. My body was dying. He saw it as the only way to save me, and gave me that, too. It's not fair! Why can't I be the one to make the sacrifices for once, instead of you all the time! You have a right to live, too!"

"But, you 'are' my life." JKaiba said to him. He could see the possibility that this Mokuba was saying. It seemed like the logical choice to him, too. "If he's inside a computer, then he's not dead."

"He might as well be. I know he's miserable." MKaiba said, thinking about his brother...the one now also captured. MKaiba looked back up at JKaiba, despite the height similarity since he was scrunched over on him, and asked, "Why do you always have to live for my happiness? Why can't you ever live for yourself for once, and find ways to make yourself happy??"

"That's a silly question." JKaiba smirked. "Did you ever think that maybe making you happy does make me happy?"

"But, why can't you find your own happiness?" MKaiba asked.

JKaiba retorted, "And why do you have to make my helping you out always sound like such a crime? You said you want me to be happy. If you're happy then I'm happy. What's the problem?"

"But...you can't be happy stuck in that machine." MKaiba muttered.

"Then, I guess it's your time to shine."

MKaiba looked up at him, confused. JKaiba smirked, adding, "You said you wanted to do something for him for a change. Well, here's your chance, kiddo. When you get back, find a way to free him."

His eyes widened, hearing his words. "B-but...you d-didn't want me to."

"Since when do you listen to me?" JKaiba asked. "Even I can't solve every problem...especially stuck in virtual reality. If you can do that...then maybe you can finally call it even for yourself."

MKaiba smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Seto..."

After a awkward moment of silence, JKaiba said, "Listen, kiddo...no offense, but it feels pretty strange hugging myself like this."

"Huh?" MKaiba asked, pulling back. "Oh, yeah." he chuckled. "Sorry..."

JKaiba wiped the tears from under MKaiba's eyes, saying, "We better get going. We don't have too long before they realize I'm missing. And we need to see if we can catch up with that other Mokuba."

"Okay!" MKaiba said, happily bounding along. He now had a new determination. When they got back, he would find a way to bring his brother back out of the computer, one way or another.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Somehow, Philmore and Angie managed to make it to the mansion. The whole place was surrounded by guards, like some big event was taking place. Philmore glared at the place, saying, "This isn't good."

"No kidding...this place has more guards around it than Fort Knox! What are we going to do?" Angie asked.

Philmore paused for a bit, as he looked over the situation. Finally, he answered, "There's nothing you can do. Go home...I'll take care of this."

"Excuse me...but, my friends are in there." Angie said.

Philmore glared at her, snapping, "Listen, lady...you're just going to slow me down. If you want to help them, then do them a favor and don't get in my way!"

"And what can you do that's better than me? Incase you forgot, you're still in the body of some 'kid', which I still don't know how you even got in there, since you refuse to tell me anything." Angie snapped.

Philmore turned his attention back to the guards, saying, "And incase you've forgotten, this 'kid' has so far saved your ass. Besides, I can use that to my advantage. It doesn't matter what I look like, right now. I have the knowledge needed to get in and bypass the guards...something you obviously have no clue about. Any stupid move you do will only get in my way, and slow us both down."

"I don't care what you say! I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not!" Angie spouted at him. This Kaiba pissed her off, so much. He was nothing like the one that kept looking at her as if she was something important to him. And to be honest, she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. True, it made her nervous that he had a crush on her. But having him act like the jerk he was wasn't very good, either. He was finally starting to treat her like the guy her friends kept describing Kaiba to be. 'Maybe it would be better having him crushing on me.' she began to think.

"Maybe I can help, too!" Mokuba said, as he headed over to them.

Philmore's eyes widened to see Mokuba approach. "Mokuba!" he cried in relief, and hugged him. It felt strange to be hugging him and holding him again, yet felt so good at the same time. It was also strange seeing him with long hair again.

Mokuba looked at him strangely, saying, "Uh...glad to see you, too. I should warn you though (sniff!), I have a cold."

Angie giggled at that, saying, "Mokuba...that's your brother."

"Huh?" Mokuba asked, looking down at the kid, who looked up at Mokuba. Finally it clicked, and he could now see it...it was him, another him. Still not his own brother, thank goodness, but another Seto. But, how in the world...??

A weak smile now came to Philmore, as he said, "I know...I'll explain later. It's just good to see you-...you're okay." Philmore quickly changed what he was saying from being happy to see him, to simply being glad Mokuba was okay. He didn't want to sound too sappy, or give away any hints of not seeing his own brother too often. Besides...in front of some strange woman he's never met before he ended up here, the less he said the safer he felt.

Mokuba easily caught onto his brother's sudden 'word change' at the end. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but knew his brother well enough to understand his reasons...probably just being as defensive as usual.

But before anything else could be said, Philmore's expression changed to a glare, saying, "That's not just a cold. You've also been crying. What happened?"

His thought immediately went back to what DTKaiba said to him, making him feel so miserable. But he pushed it back, not wanting to look upset in front of another Seto. Besides...he'd prove to that Kaiba he was wrong. He would be helpful to his brother, and help save every one of them.

"I'm fine." Mokuba said, which sounded like a typical 'Kaiba' excuse. Then dropping the subject instantly, he said, "But, we better get in there. There's one Seto inside that went kinda crazy, and he's holding everyone hostage."

"You're not going anywhere near there. Plus, you're sick...you need to get some rest." Philmore said. He turned to Angie, saying, "Why don't you take Mokuba to Yugi's and..."

"No! Seto...I gotta go, too! 'My' Seto might have made it back. And if that happened, then he's in trouble, too. I'm not going to leave him behind. Please, Seto??" Mokuba said with cry-eyes.

Angie thought that was so cute, having Mokuba beg to a kid that was younger than him. Angie then added, "Besides, who's to say Mokuba won't be in danger at Yugi's? That other Kaiba will be able to predict what you do, wouldn't he? He'll have people watching and waiting for Mokuba in those places."

"I'll make sure the other Kaiba's are safe." Philmore insisted. He looked back at Mokuba, explaining, "You're right, I'd be too predictable to myself. But you wouldn't be. You still have friends that aren't in Yugi's group. Go to them, go to where you think you'd be safe. But, you can't stay here. I wont put you in that kind of danger."

Mokuba lowered his head, saying, "I escaped because the crazy version of you let me go. He said it wouldn't hurt him to do so, because I'm useless."

Philmore's eyes widened from that, with the urge to instantly hunt down that other Kaiba and kill him where he stood. Philmore warned that other computer version he could not be trusted. He should have trusted his own instincts and not let his own selfishness get in the way. Now because of himself, he hurt Mokuba...and that was unforgivable.

"But, I'm not going to let his words be true, Seto." Mokuba said. "I 'am' going to help them, and show him that I can be valuable to my brother." He then looked right into Philmore's eyes. "But, then maybe you think he's right...that I can't do anything right, either. Is that it, Seto? Do you really think I'm just going to be a burden to you, too...that I'll just be in the way?"

"Don't be stupid." Philmore snapped. "Of course not."

He looked over at the mansion, and hoped he wasn't going to regret this decision. He grabbed onto Mokuba's wrist, saying, "Well, if you're going to help me, you can't do it standing around here. Let's go, all ready."

"All right!" Mokuba said, excitedly...anxious to help.

Philmore then stopped and turned towards Angie, as he snapped, "If you're coming too, you better keep up with us. Just keep in mind that I don't plan on baby-sitting you. If you get in trouble, I have no intention on sticking my neck out for you...got it?"

"Like, this is supposed to surprise me or something?" Angie asked him. As they kept moving, she muttered, "I can't believe I'm being lectured by some kid younger than Mokuba about babysitting 'me'..."

Mokuba snickered at that, and even Philmore found the ironic point to it rather amusing, though he made sure to keep his poker face on, nonetheless.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It didn't take long for Philmore, Angie, and Mokuba to slip around the back area, where there were still guards. But the garden trees and bushes made it easy for Philmore to slip over to the secret trap door in back, so he could lift it up and get in. There was only one problem...Philmore couldn't lift it.

Angie watched in amusement as this 10-year-old kid used all his strength to try and pull the trap door up, and still couldn't do it. She finally asked, "Do you need my help??" enjoying every moment of this.

It was very frustrating when Kaiba found himself wrong about anything. But what pissed him off even more was that he couldn't even get his frustrations out by yelling at her, in fear that the guards might hear. "No!" his hissed quietly, as he tried harder to pull it open, to no avail.

Before Angie could make Philmore's temper go over the edge, Mokuba quickly rushed over to silently help him with it...unfortunately that wasn't enough, either. Two kids trying to open this massive trap door that even a full-grown Kaiba had trouble with was just silly.

Angie sighed, "You know...while you're being stupid, our friends are in danger in there. Maybe being a kid doesn't have all the advantages you originally claimed it would."

Philmore finally stopped trying to do something that was obviously far more than Mokuba and his combined body weight could handle. He glared down at the door in scorn, as if his eyes alone could move the object. But he was forced to face the truth that he did need Angie's help, and the longer he stalled, the longer he wasted in helping Mokuba. Even if Mokuba was presently safe, he wouldn't be if this Kaiba wasn't stopped soon. Finally, with a sigh, he said, "Fine." and looked over at her. He then snapped, "Well don't just stand there, get over here and help us!"

"Ohhh...so you do need my help!" Angie teased, as she headed over, next to him.

"Please, Angie?" Mokuba asked, hoping that would stop her from teasing another version of his other brother.

"Oh...she'll help." Philmore hissed coldly, before Angie could answer. "If she ever wants to see her friends again in one piece, I guarantee she'll help."

Angie scowled at Philmore; not liking this kid anymore than she would like any Seto Kaiba version, as she headed over and quietly did as she was told. They finally got the door opened, and slipped inside. Philmore easily knew all the secret pathways, though he was surprised to find one of the newer pathways he had designed wasn't there. 'That's odd.' he thought. Then again, he was in a different world and in an earlier time-line, as well.

In fact, Mokuba didn't even know what he was looking for, and asked, "What's wrong, Seto? There's nothing there..."

Philmore glanced strangely at Mokuba, who silently confirmed there was indeed no passageway there, by the confused look on his face. He simply answered, "Its nothing." and continued on.

"What was it you were looking for, Seto?" Mokuba asked a minute later.

"I had another tunnel built there, but I guess that didn't happened yet." Philmore said. Then as he studied Mokuba, it hit him what reality he was probably in. "Mokuba...how old are you?"

"I'm eleven... why? What difference does it make?"

"That explains what reality I ended up in...it must have been 'his'."

"'His'?" Mokuba asked.

Philmore offered the hint of a smile, answering, "Your brothers."

Mokuba's eyes went wide, "You mean you've met 'my' Seto? Was he all right? Was he okay?"

"Don't worry about him...he was fine when he left." Philmore was now glad that he didn't keep this other Kaiba's body. He felt guilty about trying to take it before. Obviously, the Mokuba of this world was sick and in need of his brother. What would Mokuba do if he had taken him?

And sadly, Philmore also realized it was no different from what he was doing now. He had agreed to work with some insane version of himself in order to try and steal a body that didn't belong to him. It belonged to another Kaiba, who had another Mokuba home waiting for him. And by agreeing to this, he was just as guilty as the one inside the mansion presently threatening everyone.

His mistake was clear. This other Seto Kaiba quickly found and exploited a weakness within both him and the other Kaiba that was stuck in the machine at the same time. And because of that, he and the other had almost allowed him to succeed. 'I'm sorry, Mokuba.' he thought, unable to place his apology to words.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The three continued on and snuck into the mansion, slipping away from the guards. "Seto...something's going on." Mokuba whispered, as they ducked away from more guards scrambling.

"What do you mean?" Angie quietly asked back.

Philmore explained, "For some reason, the guards are on high alert."

"Is it because of me?" Mokuba asked, turning towards him.

Philmore shook his head. "You said he let you go...and I never back out of a deal." He then smirked, saying, "One of them must have escaped. If I were him, I'd worry, too."

"We should look for the one that escaped, then. He could help us." Angie said.

But Philmore shook his head, saying, "I have a better idea. Whoever escaped can be our perfect distraction. They're not looking for us, they're looking for whoever got away. We'll take advantage of that, to find the others."

Mokuba then looked concerned, saying, "Wait. When I escaped, I wasn't alone. There was another one that looked like you that helped me escape."

"Then why wasn't he with you, when you ran into that other one?" Philmore asked.

Mokuba replied, "Well, he was...sort of. But, the other you didn't see him. This one's different, Seto. He doesn't act like you. I don't know how to explain it. But, if he's alone out there, he might need our help."

"If he needs someone's help, then he deserves to be caught." Philmore answered. "Either way, we need to keep focused on what's important here...and that's shutting down the main threat. Let the other one stay as a distraction, while we take down that other Kaiba."

Mokuba nodded, though still feeling concern for MKaiba, thinking, 'I hope he's okay...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They continued to duck away from the guards to get further into the mansion. And when it didn't look like there was a way to avoid them, Philmore had Angie jump out as a distraction, as he slipped behind and took out the guard.

Mokuba's job was technically...spying. In fact, he was quite proficient at this job, looking to make sure the coast was clear as they took down the guards. It was as if this was something the kid did every day. The only thing that slowed poor Mokuba down was his cold, which Philmore promised he'd have him back in bed as soon as this was all over. Neither Angie nor Philmore kept their guns, and placing them in the first room they came to. Philmore saw it more as a liability than ad advantage in this house, anyway. After all, if he shot a guard, the noise from it would only alert all the others to their position, anyway. And with Mokuba nearby, he didn't want to be threatening to kill anyone in front of him, in the first place.

Philmore then looked to Mokuba, asking, "Do you have any idea where the others have been taken?"

Mokuba shook his head, "No clue. It's a safe bet he'd want them all together, so that they'd be easy to keep track of. He knocked out most of them from the living room, and I doubt he kept them there."

"Why would he? In the living room, there's no door to keep them locked up." Philmore answered.

"What if they're not even here, anymore? Maybe they went back to Kaiba Corp." Angie suggested.

"Unlikely...he wouldn't have guards surrounding this place, if he wasn't here." Philmore answered.

Mokuba added, "Plus, no one's left the mansion... I watched. One care came, but no one ever left. They have to be in here, somewhere."

"Agreed...but which room?" Philmore asked mostly to himself, as he thought about it. If he was the one imprisoning them, where would he take them? That was when the lights suddenly flickered in the house.

"What was that?" Angie asked.

Philmore responded, "It looks like 'someone' is using a lot of power, for some reason. Come on...I know where they are." As they began to move, none of them noticed a couple of shadows looming far behind, carefully following them out of sight.

It wasn't long before they slipped down this long narrow corridor filled with doors having passkeys every 10'. Fortunately, Philmore new every entrance code. Finally at the last door, Philmore said, "Both of you stay here and let me go first. If something goes wrong...go back, get out of here and call the police. Got it?"

"But, Seto..." Mokuba quietly whined.

Philmore turned to him, saying, "You know it's not safe, and equally stupid going in together. Mokuba, I know you want to help. And you've been helping a lot. But for now, just stay here with her. You can't do anything more, right now. You know how to get out, if something goes wrong."

Mokuba nodded sadly, and for once Angie didn't argue.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Philmore entered one of the holding chambers that hadn't been used for a while. He was surprised to see not only Yugi's group, but all the other Kaiba's here as well, all shackled up and hanging on the walls.

None of the other Kaiba's were a surprise to him, since he had all ready known about them. The only one he wasn't aware of was GSeto, who still seemed limp and unconscious. Philmore could immediately tell it was another version of him...but it made him wonder if there are even more that showed up, since the last time they counted.

KTristan's eyes widened once Philmore entered, immediately certain he knew who the kid was, as Joey snapped, "Hey, what the hell is a kid doing here?"

"It's another Kaiba." KTristan said.

Joey looked over, asking, "You've seen him before?"

KTristan ignored Joey and simply glared at Philmore with distrust. He had to be the other Kaiba that was originally stuck in the machine with him. His facial features screamed 'Kaiba'. Plus, only a Kaiba could get through the heavy security.

He then glanced at the still unconscious 'hippy' version of them, for a moment wondering who he was, then. After all, he had assumed OSeto was now the other Kaiba originally stuck in the machine. Finally, he realized DTKaiba must not have bothered to do the transfer, after all. 'Of course...he told me he originally grabbed a body of some kid playing a video game.' he remembered, looking back down at Philmore.

But, now the question was...exactly whose side was he on? Was it them or the evil Kaiba? Was he even aware that DTKaiba was stabbing them all in the back...even those he agreed to originally work with? Did he know the danger this Kaiba was to Mokuba?

Joey simply blurted, "Well, don't just stand there...let us out!"

Philmore noticed one of them was missing though, as he asked, "Where's Yugi?"

"Relax, 'Philmore'...the star of our little play will be joining us any minute, now." DTKaiba said, as he walked in from another doorway. "I'm glad to see you three could make it. It saved me the trouble of having to get a driver to drag you all down here."


	38. C38 Let’s Duel

_**C38 Let's Duel**_

"Relax, 'Philmore'...the star of our little play will be joining us any minute, now." DTKaiba said, as he walked in from another doorway. "I'm glad to see you three could make it. It saved me the trouble of having to get a driver to drag you all down here."

DTKaiba's words immediately caused Philmore to turn around, to witness two guards dragging both Mokuba and Angie in, fighting against them the whole time. "Mokuba!" Philmore cried out, as many of the other Kaiba's looked down in concern to see that Mokuba did not escape. Philmore turned back to DTKaiba, and hissed, "Let him go!"

"You want him safe? Then I suggest you don't try anything stupid." DTKaiba smirked.

Philmore's eyes narrowed, as he snapped, "You mentioned that I saved you the trouble of getting me back here. But you knew all along that I escaped, didn't you? That's why one of the passwords worked for me. You let us come to you on purpose!"

"Hmmm...it does sound like something I would do, doesn't it? Lull you into a feeling of safety; think you have your own freedom as you obviously head straight into my trap. Hahahaha!" DTKaiba cackled.

Philmore clenched his jaw in anger, not liking this version of himself one bit.

When DTKaiba stopped cackling, he continued, "Well... part of it is true, anyway. I honestly hadn't expected you to get out at all. And after you had, I realized that additional passwords were created by me, when I became slightly older. But there was no real concern...you fools were so predictable. I knew you would come here to save that worthless brat. Why any of you would even waste your time with him, I can't imagine. But, no matter...because of your pathetic weakness, you made the game that much easier for me." DTKaiba said, looking coldly over at poor sick Mokuba surrounded by guards.

DTKaiba then added, "It's nice to see you back, Mokuba. I told you that you'd be worthless against me. And your stupidity even lead another version of me right into a trap. How typical."

Philmore snapped, "Enough! What the hell is wrong with you?!! That might not be 'your' Mokuba, but it's still Mokuba...no matter what dimension you're from. Your actions are unforgivable! Do your responsibilities mean nothing to you?"

DTKaiba's eye twitched from the comment he said, then yelled, "Shut up! I don't need to be told from anyone on my agreements! Every time I look at him, it's a constant reminder thrown in my face!"

A moment later, DTKaiba calmed and smirk returned on his face. "I know what you're trying to do. You wont affect me...I wont let you. Is that why you all cling to him like you do? I'm pleased to know it's not love you think keeps you together...simply your responsibilities."

Mokuba's eyes widened from hearing those words. 'Is he right? But...my brother loves me. Doesn't he??'

"Soon enough I learned that Mokuba was a burden I no longer felt the need to hold on to. And just as any good business man does, I cut any losses that were slowing me down...and Mokuba was my greatest liability." DTKaiba finished.

Philmore replied, "That's not true."

"It isn't?" DTKaiba asked in amusement, before Philmore could say more. "Let's go over the present situation in the game, then."

He then turned to the other hanging Kaiba's, announcing to them, "As you can plainly see, I am here in charge, while all of you are hanging there...helpless! You should have all known better to allow such a weak nobody to slow you down. And because of him, you have all become trapped. Happy? Do you feel proud of your stupidity?? It's the same weakness that you all share that has allowed me to be a step ahead of you at all times. And in a minute...you'll join them, Philmore. Maybe then you'll finally see the truth in my words."

Philmore was tempted to go over and pound this Kaiba to the ground. He wasn't sure what he hated more about him...the things he said that upset his brother, the fact that he could actually relate to this monster, or the fact that he felt responsible for this, since technically...DTKaiba was another version of him. But as much as he wanted to pound him to the ground, he couldn't take the chance that attacking him could cause the guards to harm Mokuba.

Then suddenly, everyone could hear what sounded like fighting from the same hallway that Philmore came from, and turned to see yet another Kaiba entered the room, looking over the situation. He then smirked, saying, "It looks like you're wrong. Not 'all' of us are trapped..."

Mokuba used that moment as a distraction. He kicked one of the guards and ran to new Kaiba, saying, "Seto, is that you??"

It was JKaiba, and he gladly accepted Mokuba's embrace, yet never let his eyes leave DTKaiba at the other side of the room. He answered Mokuba, "I'm afraid not, kiddo. It's me, number 1. But don't worry...either way, I'll make sure that nutcase doesn't hurt you. I also brought a friend. You can come out."

MKaiba walked out and smiled down at Mokuba, saying, "I'm glad you got away."

Mokuba smiled back. "Yeah... I was worried you might have gotten caught."

"No, I'm okay."

"Are all the introductions in order, now?" DTKaiba asked impatiently, not liking how for a moment he was not the center of everyone's attention. Then with a fake smiled, he added, "Good. I'm glad to see everyone is finally here." and snapped his fingers.

The other guards immediately drew their guns up at him. "You're the one who must have faked being shot, then escaped afterwards. I commend you. That was very original...even for me. Though I'd also say it was rather cowardly...something which I would not normally do, myself."

"No, you wouldn't...that's why I did it. Fighting you head-on was too predictable." JKaiba said.

DTKaiba retorted, "I must admit, I was impressed to find that you escaped me at all. But, no matter. Since you were so stupid to show up here, you've now corrected the problem for me." He then looked at the guards, snapping, "Chain the others up."

JKaiba pulled Mokuba behind him, and then MKaiba, as Philmore and Angie came to either side of JKaiba, prepared to try and fight together against the guards, if they had to.

DTKaiba smirked, saying, "Isn't that sweet...so protective over Mokuba. Despite all the problems he's caused for you...despite the fact that he's the reason you're losing this game. You still refuse to give him up. It makes me almost feel sorry you...almost."

"What the hell is wrong with you!!" Joey snapped at him. "How the hell can you think that caring for your own brother is a bad thing? Caring for people aint some kind a weakness...it's a strength!"

DTKaiba refused to even turn to acknowledge Joey, as he muttered, "As if some dead-beat cheerleader of Yugi's is even deserving of acknowledgement."

"Dead-beat??! Why, you lousy tight-assed prick!!" Joey snarled. "Yeah, you're just lucky I'm in these chains, or I'd kick your ass!!"

JKaiba was one of the few that glanced Joey's way as he spoke. Even the Joey in this world was in so many ways like his own. The Joey of his world also believed that them being together was a strength, while he still had his doubts...still ingrained from his stepfather's beliefs. Even though he'd gladly throw his life away for Mokuba, part of him still questioned even now if maybe DTKaiba was right. Maybe it was a liability. His feelings for Mokuba could cost them everything.

Yet, Joey believed it was just the opposite. Was it possible? Could his bond with his brother and his feelings for Joey somehow help him to take DTKaiba down? But, how could it??

"That's enough Kaiba! You've done enough harm!" Yami then said, as he was brought up into his room from what looked like some kind of elevator in the center of the room that matched with the floor.

"Yugi...welcome." DTKaiba sneered. "I must apologize for these crude accommodations. I would have made sure to come up with something far more impressive to duel in... but unfortunately, I was limited on time. I'm sure you understand. Either way, I'm pleased to have you as my special guest today, even if it's only for today." DTKaiba then nodded his head for the guards to drag them over and hold them, instead of shackling them up.

The lights that were very dim suddenly came on full force, temporarily blinding them at the moment. DTKaiba had a higher stand set for himself out of sheer ego, simply so that Yami would be forced to look up at him, even more than usual.

"Let them go, Kaiba. They have done nothing to you! Why would you want to wage war with other versions of yourself? Can't you see that they are just as displaced in this world as you are?" Yami asked.

"That's what makes this so perfect...can't you see that?" DTKaiba asked. "All these fools that cow down to that worthless brat have all paid the price for their failure...failure in defeating you. I'm going to change that, Yugi. I'm going to show them their mistakes they have all made, and smear it in their faces to prove to them that there is only one Seto Kaiba...and that is me! They only live now to witness my victory, before I exterminate them all."

"You're insane!" Yami gasped, eyes widening.

From the wall of Kaiba's, VWKaiba suddenly called out, "Yugi..." getting Yami's attention. With an intense look in his eyes, this Kaiba added, "You know what we're dealing with, here. This time, don't go easy on him."

Yami studied the intensity in VWKaiba eyes, knowing his words meant something important. Then suddenly, all at once it finally hit home, causing Yami to realize exactly what version of Kaiba they were dealing with. He couldn't understand it before, why this Kaiba behaved so much more evil than the others. And just to confirm it, Yami turned back towards DTKaiba, to really look at him for the first time. He could now see the similarity of the younger Kaiba he once faced over a year ago, and the same insane look in his eyes.

Yami's anger towards him calmed, and he finally nodded, saying to VWKaiba, "Yes, I understand now." Then speaking to DTKaiba, Yami added, "I can see the pain and suffering in your eyes."

DTKaiba blinked, at first not believing that he had heard that correctly from Yami. "You dare pity me???" DTKaiba then raged. He then practically screamed out at him, "You don't know the meaning of the word suffering! But you will, the instant I'm through crushing you!!"

DTKaiba seemed to be quickly losing control, from the sheer hate flowing through him. And Yami did pity him. He couldn't help it, witnessing the person flailing around on his podium. As much hate that this Kaiba was expelling out of him...he was like a suffering soul, ready to jump into death itself, if just to end it all.

DTKaiba then spit out, "Enough of this! Yugi...I challenge you to a duel! And you WILL accept it! After all, the lives of all these other versions of me, as well as your friends and even Mokuba are at stake if you don't agree...that even includes the two lives stuck in the computer system. With the push of one button, I'll kill both of these innocent lives. But just to prove to you I'm not all 'that' bad, I'll give you a chance to hear from them, yourself...allowing them to have a small 'goodbye' speech, incase you refuse." Kaiba typed a couple buttons on his high stand, which activated two speakers that also seemed to be set up for this occasion.

One was a kid, yelling, "Help! Somebody get me out of here! I don't like this game, anymore!"

Another sounded like Tristan, crying out, "Hey! Is anyone out there?? Some weird Kaiba turned me into a robotic monkey! I want my body back!!"

"Tristan?" Yami asked.

"Wait a minute!" Joey suddenly blurted out. "If that's Tristan, then...who's that?" he asked, looking over at Tristan, who was presently not making eye contact with any of Yugi's friends.

"Good question." Yami asked, looking at KTristan, as well. "Who are you?"

Angie blurted out, "It's another Kaiba, Yugi. He was helping this freako out!"

"What?" VWKaiba hissed from where he was chained, glaring over at KTristan.

He glared back at VWKaiba, snapping, "How the hell was I supposed to know he was trying to kill us all?"

VWaiba then snapped back at him, "Don't pretend to be so naive. You knew perfectly well what he was doing. So, what were 'you' supposed to get out of it? I see your little plan didn't work, either way."

"No, it didn't..." he muttered, glancing down over at MKaiba with guilt written all over his face. Then avoiding his brother's eye contact, he added, "It's a moot point...it didn't work."

MKaiba looked sadly up at his brother, hanging above them with the others. Somewhere inside him, he had a feeling he knew why his brother was doing this. He didn't want to believe it though, since it would only make himself feel more guilty. 'It's my fault Seto doesn't have his body, now.' he thought. But then he glanced at JKaiba, who was also looking at him and gave him a slight nod of reminding. 'He's right.' MKaiba thought, looking at JKaiba. 'Seto helped me...now, it's my turn to help my brother out.'

MKaiba looked back at his brother one more time, 'I'm going to save you, Seto. I don't know how, but when we get back...I'm going to free you from that system!'

Then glaring over at VWKaiba, MKaiba snapped at him, "Leave him alone! It's not Seto's fault...he was doing it for me!"

VWKaiba eyed MKaiba curiously, wondering what he was talking about, and why he was defending him. He remembered walking in on those two hugging each other. But if Tristan was in fact another him, then the reason for them being together like that made no sense. Suddenly his eyes widened, as reality hit him on the situation and what it all meant.

All this time, he had felt that there was something wrong, something different about MKaiba. He had a feeling he knew what MKaiba really was...but his stubbornness refused to let him believe that. Only now had it finally begun to sink in that this MKaiba really wasn't another him at all. He was instead another Mokuba!

VWKaiba blankly muttered out, "So then, you are really..." and sighed, unable to finish. How could he have blinded himself so much that he couldn't recognize his own brother? How could he not see it before? It was obvious that he didn't want to. It would lead to more questions, such as...how did this happen? Why did Mokuba look like him? But he had a bad sinking feeling that he really didn't want to know that answer. Hopefully, it was a similar reason as how his brother ended up looking like Tristan. Besides, now was not the time for such questions, anyway. They had to get out of this, first.

Ignoring the side conversations going on around him between the other Kaiba's and Mokuba's, DTKaiba kept his focus on Yami, asking, "So what's it going to be, Yugi?" His eyes seemed to be almost dancing dangerously at the sight of his nemesis...Yugi was his obsession, his only real challenge. DTKaiba was going to beat him that was his greatest interest above all.

"What are the stakes, Kaiba?" Yami asked.

DTKaiba sneered madly, pleased with Yami's response. "The most extreme stakes, of course." DTKaiba explained. "Whoever loses...loses their life."

"No one's losing anything! At least...not yet." JKaiba suddenly interrupted.

DTKaiba glared down at him. "Don't tell me what I can't have in my own personal tournament!"

"But you can't have the prize, until you first win the game...wouldn't you agree?" JKaiba smirked. "Before you get to challenge Yugi, you're going to first have to battle me."

"Yugi is the only one worthy of this challenge, not you!!" DTKaiba snapped.

"Wrong" JKaiba replied. "At this moment, there's two Kaiba's worthy of the final match. You said yourself, this is a game...right? Well, I was supposed to be captured, but I out-smarted you. You never saw it coming."

JKaiba then pointed at him, stating, "In order for you to win, you have to take us all down...and you have yet to defeat me." He then crossed his arms, looking all cocky. "I thought you were supposed to be superior to us all. But, so far...I'm not impressed."

JKaiba's words were causing an inner tantrum in the younger Kaiba, barely able to keep his temper in check. JKaiba continued on, "Obviously from your efforts here, you wanted to make sure everyone knew that you were the head Kaiba in charge. So, then...prove it. Before you deserve the right to duel Yugi, you have to earn it! Beat me first...and prove you're worthy that challenge!"

"I don't have to prove anything to you! I 'am' superior!!" DTKaiba roared, all control presently lost. "The guards already have you now, so why should I care? I will only challenge Yugi!!"

"What are you saying...are you refusing a challenge?" JKaiba asked. "Are you afraid of proving to your guards that maybe you aren't the real Seto Kaiba?" JKaiba smirked, "You realize they are fully aware that the real Seto Kaiba would never be afraid and back down from a challenge, especially one who so easily trampled over your plans once. So, go ahead and cower on that high pedestal of yours. So much for you superiority..."

DTKaiba's eye was twitching, as he glared with hate down at JKaiba, and gave only the most subtle glance at the guards, who indeed began to show signs of uncertainty. He didn't want to challenge himself though...only Yugi was worthy to battle him!

He then forced his anger down, keeping his rage in check, as he muttered, "If you do, you will still have to accept the penalty game for failure. Are you ready to accept death?"

Yami looked concerned at JKaiba, who didn't even look phased. "Do you really need to ask? I do have one stipulation, though. If you fail, you will surrender yourself to me, until we can get everyone back to where they belong...including yourself."

Again, DTKaiba looked like he was going to explode, as he snapped at JKaiba, "That makes no sense! What do you care if I die or not? Don't tell me my death matters to you! What am I to you, your future self?"

"I couldn't say for sure...I'm guessing not. But even if you were, I already told you it's not about me." JKaiba closed his eyes, explaining, "I'm doing this for Mokuba."

"Again with Mokuba! Anything between me and Mokuba is in the past! There is no such thing as brotherly 'love' in business!!" spitting the word love out, like it was poison.

"Kaiba!" Yami said to JKaiba in concern. "If you face him, you'll not simply be facing another opponent in a duel...you'll be facing yourself. If you lose, you will be killed! If this other Kaiba wants to battle me, then let..."

"No!" JKaiba snapped, still staring at DTKaiba. "This battle is mine. Besides, I have no intention on losing." He then turned to Yugi, saying, "There's another Yugi in his world ready to face him. If he learns the way you play, he'll have an advantage over you...and you may not win. I have to ensure that Mokuba will be safe in both worlds...not just this one."

"I understand." Yami said, now realizing the real reason JKaiba decided he didn't want DTKaiba facing him. All the other Kaiba's felt it made sense too, including GSeto who had woke up when they were finding out that MKaiba was Mokuba and KTristan was another Kaiba. It's always best to stay silent to find things out around him and not be noticed doing so.

But this recent event shamed GSeto, hearing this from another version of him. This Kaiba wasn't just fighting for the Mokuba's here...he was doing it even for DTKaiba's Mokuba back home. Every single version of Mokuba that JKaiba could protect, he was jumping in the line of fire for.

...and he had left his own Mokuba at the orphanage, while fighting to stay in this world and take the cowards way out. 'Mokuba...I don't deserve you.' GSeto thought. And yet, all these other Kaiba's were version of what he could be, right? He could become an evil and sadistic Kaiba that cares for no one but himself, obsessed with winning all the time. He could become like one of the computer versions of himself, ready to stab anyone in the back to get what he wants...and probably fail his brother. Or, he could be a hero, like this Kaiba was being, ready to do whatever he had to in order to protect his brother, no matter what the danger to his own life. 'I want to be like him.' GSeto thought, opening his eyes and looking down at him from his hanging position.

"You're all ready too late." DTKaiba sneered. "Yugi will never be able to defeat me! My next plan is flawless!"

"Then let's find out." JKaiba said, putting his deck into his duel disk.

DTKaiba also pulled out a duel disk and set it up himself, stating, "You realize I now know your plans. If I wanted to, I could simply ignore you and challenge Yugi first, as I originally planned."

"I suppose you could." JKaiba said, approaching where Yami was, who backed away and play the spectator instead of the fighter. "But, that's not your intention."

DTKaiba replied, "I will show Yugi that I'm the only one worthy of battling him. I will crush you like the pathetic fool that you are. And as soon as your life points hit zero, I'm ordering my guard to execute you on the spot."

As they took their positions ready to battle, Joey just then had the sudden urge to speak up. He wasn't positive if it was actual concern for the guy or not that caused him to do so... but before he had a chance to think about it or stop himself, Joey suddenly blurted out, "Dammit, Kaiba...this is crazy! You can't battle yourself! Let Yugi do this!"

JKaiba looked up at Joey, as he lightly commented, "Is that concern for me, pup? You better be careful, or people are going to start wondering about you."

DTKaiba had no idea what he meant by that, and assumed it was probably some future way of insulting Yugi's friends.

Joey swallowed. Only then did he realize the same Kaiba battling was the same one that kept hitting on him. There were so many of them, he had trouble-keeping track, anymore.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

During this time, OSeto had finally begun to wake up. He was originally sucked into the VR computer, but was thrown back to his body soon after, then beat over the head by the guards. 'Where the hell am I?' he thought to himself, finding he was chained on a wall. What he found even more confusing was that he was chained along with a whole bunch of others that looked like that crazy guy who told him to sit in that chair in the first place. 'Geez, is this like octuplets, or something?'

He glanced around, overhearing some of the conversation, and noticed Mokuba was down there. 'Hey, that's my bro! He'll save me!' He wanted to wave, but his arms were chained up, making him unable to do so. 'He don't look so good...in fact, he looks pretty crappy. I guess he 'is' sick.'

And then he heard his brother call the other Kaiba down there 'Seto'. 'Huh? Wait a minute, but 'I'm' Seto!' Suddenly, everything finally clicked together in this Seto's mind, which happened to run much slower than possible than any other Kaiba. Everyone had been calling him Kaiba the entire time, which he simply couldn't figure out. Kaiba was a cold-blooded psycho. And yet, that very psycho they were now calling Joey and acting like he was best friends with him. In fact, if anything...Joey Kaiba now seems to act more like him. But, did that mean...in this world, he really was K-...K-...??

"No fucking way!!" OSeto suddenly blurted out, surprising everyone. "This has got to be a freaking nightmare! Someone just shoot me!!"

DTKaiba growled, "If you don't shut up, I'll do just that!"

"Quiet" SMKaiba muttered to him. "They're trying to have a duel down there."

"I heard what they're doing!" OSeto blurted, reminding them of the way Joey had a tendency to act. "I ain't stupid, you know! They got some kind of freaky death battle going on down there...and personally, I think both of them are nuts! Fighting to the death? Yami and all the others gotta be crazy in thinking you guys are supposed ta be me. There's just no way you're like me, at all! I mean...what kind of fruit loops are you, anyway? Don't your lives mean anything to you??"

"Shut up!" MEKaiba spat, all ready sick of hearing himself sound so stupid. "You're right...we 'are' nothing alike. Personally, I don't understand why you don't see the logic in it. I agree entirely on his reasoning...it makes perfect sense."

Philmore nodded, "As do I. If he fails, then he deserves to die."

"Don't say that!!" Mokuba snapped at him.

Philmore looked over, and smiled at poor sick Mokuba. "Have faith, Mokuba. He won't lose. He has the advantage, anyway...he beats him in experience alone."

"Don't be so sure." DTKaiba sneered back at Philmore, overhearing the last comment. "I've gone through all the battle records earlier, to keep up to date. My deck has also been updated from the card vault, so don't think for a minute he has any advantage over me." He looked to JKaiba, saying, "I hope you're prepared to see your own Dragons facing against you. After all, I have three Blue Eyes, as well..."

"Hmph. It won't be the first time I've seen them turned against me." JKaiba said, then they both cried out, "Let's duel!"


	39. C39 Next Stage Kaiba vs Kaiba Chap 1

A/N: The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C39 Next Stage - Kaiba vs. Kaiba Chapter 1**_

DTKaiba glared down at JKaiba, as he proudly stood on his self-made pedestal, acting like a god who was looking down upon some insect before him. "So...you think you're better than me, do you? Then I suppose I'll just have to prove to you who the 'real' Seto Kaiba is! But don't forget the penalty for failure, fool!"

JKaiba stood confident, never wavering from the threat of death. "Then let's get on with it, all ready. You're beginning to bore me."

"Let's duel!" They chimed at the same time. JKaiba stepped in the place where Yami was to be, as the duel disks came to life, prepared for action.

"I'll go first!" DTKaiba snapped, drawing his cards. "You made a dire mistake to duel me. Every one of you are weak and pathetic. After everything that had been taught to every one of you, one would have assumed that my lessons would begin to sink in. But obviously none of you possess the genius I have to properly grasp what is needed to truly survive in this world."

"Idiot." JKaiba spat back. "You're the one who failed. When you gave in to Gozaburo's teachings, you ended up failing both Mokuba and yourself. Its sickening just to look at you and know that I was once like you."

"Kaiba, you got it in the bag! That other Kaiba probably don't even know the right rules!" Joey stated from his spot on the wall. He then shut up quick, once again reminding himself that JKaiba was the weird one that was trying to hit on him before.

And right after, JKaiba glanced Joey's way, offering a hint of a smile, making Joey turn red and look very awkward. "Don't look at me like that!" he immediately spat. "I just wanna get down from here, that's all!"

He ignored Joey's words though, staring into him. This battle would be more than a victory. Yami, was right...he had to defeat himself to beat this duel. He's faced many computer versions, but this was the genuine article. And to defeat him...he had to defeat his past and the guilt he continued to feel when looking at DTKaiba or thinking about that time in the past.

JKaiba then glanced at Yugi, thinking of another point this fight would make. This fight would also prove what was strength and what was weakness. Yugi believed that caring was a strength, not a weakness. And yet, it was against everything JKaiba had ever believed in...even now. At this moment, he was fighting this version to save Mokuba. But if he was right all along, then that would mean this other version is stronger than he was.

'It's time we find out Yugi...who's finally right.' JKaiba thought. Of course, Joey had a point, too. Even if DTKaiba truly was the stronger of the two of them...he also lacked in experience and cards. Was this really a challenge??

At that moment, DTKaiba's insane laughter broke the silence that had been hanging in the air. "Hahahaha! Once again, it looks like I am still one step ahead of you all! If you think I'm going to be an easy target, then you're sorely mistaken. Since my time here, I have all ready carefully looked over every new aspect of the game, every new card, and studied all the past battles recorded in Kaiba Corp's mainframe computers. There is nothing you can do that can surprise me! And don't think you're the only one with Crush Cards and Ultimate Dragons...our decks probably match perfectly. The real test will be who can use it more proficiently than the other."

'Then, this really 'is' a test of wills.' JKaiba thought. "If that's the case, then I all ready have you beat." JKaiba added with a smirk. "No tapes in the world can outmatch real experience in play. Technically, this is your first real battle, kid. You wont have a chance against me."

"Who you calling 'kid'?" DTKaiba snapped, pleasing JKaiba...he knew that would piss him off. "The only one who's going to win this is the one who truly deserves to be called Kaiba!" he added. "So, allow me to show you just how much more superior I am! I summon Slate Warrior in attack mode! But, that's not all...I combined it with the magic card Quick Attack, allowing me to attack right now!"

Every one gasped at once. Even JKaiba widened his eyes in surprise. 'But, this is the first turn! I'm wide open!'

"What's wrong? Not expecting such an ingenious move? Hmph...I told you you're in over your head. Now, Slate Warrior...attack his life points directly!"

With the help of the Quick Attack magic card, Slate Warrior attacked JKaiba's life points, knocking off a whopping 1900 on the first turn. JKaiba was already down to 2100.

Yugi gasped, "That evil Kaiba already has a big lead against the other Kaiba. He's going to have to do something to try and make it up."

The other Kaiba's didn't respond, but most of them were quite impressed...it was a really good first move, that they would have no chance to counter.

The cocky attitude from JKaiba was now gone and he looked pissed, while DTKaiba was sneering coldly at him. "I end my turn. Now...let's see what 'you' can do."

JKaiba drew a card and looked his hand over. "I summon a monster in defense mode, then place one card face-down and end my turn."

DTKaiba laughed coldly. "Is that the best you can do? All ready on the first turn, and you're running like a coward. How pathetic. I had expected to have some kind of challenge...but I guess I should have expected this. After all, since I'm facing just another inferior version of myself, I should have expected this battle to be rather short-lived."

After drawing a card and looking over his hand, DTKaiba sneered up at JKaiba, saying, "So, let's see what you're face-down card is. I use Mystical Space Typhoon and wipe out your card!"

The card destroyed was the trap card...Command Silencer.

"Ha! Just what I thought...even your strategy is predictable. You were hoping to protect your monster by discarding a card, so you can summon a more powerful monster. Well guess what...that's not going to happen. If anything, I plan on finishing this game, right now!" DTKaiba spat.

Keeping a poker face, JKaiba stated, "You're bluffing."

DTKaiba sneered evilly, stating, "Oh, am I? Well let me show you what an 'undefeated' world champion can do! I summon Ryokishin Powered in attack mode. But that's not all...maybe you'll recognize this card."

JKaiba's eyes widened, as they could hear Yugi spit out, "Oh, no!" in the background.

"That's a Thunder Dragon." JKaiba stated, seeming to be fighting an anger inside of him.

DTKaiba looked pleased at everyone's reaction. "That's right. And by discarding it, I can summon two more Thunder Dragons. And then with the magic card Polymerization, I can fuse my two dragons to create the Twin Headed Thunder Dragon!"

"No!" Yugi cried. "That's too powerful! With all those monsters on the field, the other Kaiba wont have a chance. He'll be defeated in this round!"

"That's right, Yugi." DTKaiba replied, keeping his focus on the other Kaiba. "And as for you...once I crush you in this final turn, I hope you're prepared to lose your life. Infact, I think I'll even pull the trigger, myself. Hahahahaha!!"

"Just make your move, already!" JKaiba spat out, sounding upset. After all...his life was hanging in the balance, depending on how this round turned out.

"Anxious to die so soon? Very well...no sense in delaying the inevitable. Ryokishin Powered, attack his face-down card, now!" DTKaiba commanded.

And it did, attacking and destroying...Cyber Jar!

"No! Not that!" DTKaiba exclaimed.

JKaiba smirked. "Yes...that. I guess jumping the gun doesn't always pay. And you should have known my strategies are better than that. But then, I shouldn't be expecting anything more from a novice like you."

Cyber Jar caused all monsters on the field to be wiped out. Plus, it's next special effect caused each player to draw 5 cards...any monsters 4-star or lower were automatically set or summoned to the field, while everything else went straight to their hand.

Out of the five cards, DTKaiba received 2 monsters, which he places face-down on the field. The same happened to JKaiba, except he had them appear face-up on the field - which were X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head. No longer able to do anything else, DTKaiba said, "I place two cards face-down and end my turn." obviously not in the least happy with how it turned out. DTKaiba now had 2 cards, while JKaiba had 7.

JKaiba drew a card, now being the one that looked cocky. He muttered to DTKaiba, "Idiot. You think because you got lucky on the first turn, you can take me down so easily? You're showing your age, compulsive and ready to charge into the first sight of danger. And that's going to be your undoing."

"And you think playing the coward and hiding in defense mode is going to allow you to win??" DTKaiba snapped back.

"No...but being strategic will." JKaiba said. "I now summon Blade Knight in attack mode."

There was a momentary pause, as DTKaiba snapped, "Well? What are you waiting for? Plan on backing off again...playing it safe, old man?"

"Old? We're only 2 years apart at the most, incase you didn't figure that out. And who says I plan on backing off? I simply don't play it stupid, like you do. I'll use my own Mystical Space Typhoon." JKaiba stated, putting the card down.

"So, which one? I have two one the field." DTKaiba said.

JKaiba pointed, saying, "That one." And Ring of Destruction was wiped off the field. JKaiba smirked, "I guess I picked well. Now, Blade Knight...attack the first face-down card!"

Saggi is wiped from the field. JKaiba then attacks next with X-Head Cannon. This face-down card is a Giant Germ, that is obliterated but JKaiba suffers another 500 points loss from it, now at 1700 life points.

"Oh, no!" Tea cried, seeing JKaiba suffering more loss.

Once it is destroyed, DTKaiba summoned another one to the field in attack mode. "Well? Are you going to attack it or chicken out? It will cost me a monster and some life points...but in all honesty, can you afford to lose anymore?"

"Kaiba, be careful! You can't afford to lose anymore!" Yugi cried out.

"He doesn't need a cheer leading crew, Yugi!" VWKaiba chided Yugi, for daring to support him as if he was one of them.

"I don't back down." JKaiba hissed coldly. "Y-Cannon Head, destroy that Giant Germ!" Y-Cannon Head obeyed, destroying what seemed to be the final one, taking a 500-point loss for both sides. It was the first time DTKaiba had taken any loss so far, going down to 3500, while JKaiba was now struggling with 1200 points remaining. "I place two cards of my own face-down and end my turn."

DTKaiba smiled as he drew his card, stating, "Don't think just because you made one clever move with that Cyber Jar, that you still have any kind of chance to win. Every one of you fools failed to Yugi, because all of you went soft and got pathetic in just a few short years. It's sickening just to look at the bunch of you! I am the only one that had obviously ever learned anything. I am undefeated and plan on staying that way, even towards myself...and I'll prove it. I activate Card of Sanctity."

Both Kaiba's picked from their deck until they both had 6 cards. "I now Activate Dark Hole! Say good-bye to your monsters...and your remaining life points, now that you're wide-open for an attack!"

All monsters were obliterated...or were they? Almost an instant later, Blade Knight returned to the field.

"What? That's not possible! You cheated!" DTKaiba snapped.

JKaiba snapped, "I don't need to cheat to defeat the likes of you...and I don't stoop to that level. I simply used my Inter-dimensional Matter Transporter. If you want to get rid of me, I'm afraid you're going to have to do better than that."

"And I will!" DTKaiba snarled. "I summon the mighty Battle Ox...but it's not going to be here for long. For I now use the card White Dragon Ritual, sacrificing Battle Ox to summon Paladin of White Dragon. Now my dragon, attack his Blade Knight!"

The Paladin of White Dragon attacked, destroying Blade Knight and bringing him down even more to 900 life points. Then with evil grin, DTKaiba announced, "I will now use my Paladin of White Dragon's special ability, sacrificing him to summon my great beast...the Blue Eyes White Dragon! Hahahaha!!"

"This looks bad!" Joey exclaimed. "That other Kaiba all ready got a Blue Eyes on the field!"

'_Joey's right.' _Yugi exclaimed to the pharaoh. _'He already got one of his most powerful monsters on the field. If the other Kaiba can't do the same soon...he may not survive much longer. One blow from that Blue Eyes towards any of Kaiba's monsters can end it for him!'_

'_We have to have faith in the other Kaiba, Yugi. I'm sure the other Kaiba must have been expecting this possibility to come up. After all, he's fighting a version of himself...'_ Yami stated.

'_But he has no monsters left on the field. He's totally open to an attack!'_ Yugi exclaimed.

'_Yes. But, it's also his turn.' _Yami replied.

It's a pity you can't attack with him this turn." JKaiba stated to the other.

DTKaiba retorted, "Hmph...that wont matter any. Next turn, you're finished! I place a card face-down and end my turn."

"We'll see about that. Because right now, it's MY turn! I draw!" Kaiba pulled a card from the deck, looking it over. He then looked over at DTKaiba and smirked. "By the way, I just thought you should know that I've been waiting for you to summon one of them to the field. For now, I use this...the magic card, Snatch Steel!"

"No, you can't!" DTKaiba spouted in panic.

"That's right...your Blue Eyes is now with its proper owner: ME!" As it activates, he uses the magic card on the BEWD, which automatically gets moved to his side of the field.

JKaiba calmly reached down to his duel deck, pulling up the BEWD card, showing DTKaiba's card to him. "You've already had one Blue Eyes betray you once before...haven't you? Don't you see, they know you aren't worthy...just as this one will betray you, as well. Soon enough, they will all turn against you..."

"Shut up, SHUT UP!!" DTKaiba spat out, covering his ears, refusing to listen to JKaiba's words. JKaiba obviously knew just the right things to say to push DTKaiba's buttons...and that was one of them.

"You don't want to hear it? Fine, then maybe I'll show you! Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack your former master and put him in his place!!" JKaiba cried to the dragon.

BEWD attacked, doing a devastating amount of damage to DTKaiba's life points, bringing him down to only 500 in one shot. DTKaiba was shaking, as he slowly pealed himself off the ground.

"I now place one card face-down and end my turn." JKaiba stated. The instant he said that, DTKaiba's points raised back to 1500, due to Snatch Steel's affect.

DTKaiba was so enraged; he was still trembling, as he hissed dangerously, "I'll make you pay for that! No one does that to me and gets away with it!" He drew his card and threw it down, spitting out, "I summon Vorse Raider, in attack mode!"

"Your rage has blinded you." JKaiba stated. "Have you forgotten that your Vorse Raider is staring down at a Blue Eyes?"

"Ha, you think you're so clever! Well, you wont be so high and mighty, after I use 'this'...I activate Mega morph on my Vorse Raider!" DTKaiba snapped.

This caused the whole area to become quiet. Joey was first to blurt out, "Uh...does he still realize his life points went back up? I mean...that aint gonna make his monster stronger than the other Kaiba's, only weaker than ever!"

JKaiba looked unimpressed. "Somehow, a monster with 950 attack strength hardly looks menacing..." Then suddenly as if someone just turned a light switch on in JKaiba's brain, his eyes widened, as he asked, "Wait a minute...you not..."

"Oh, yes I am! I activate my Crush Virus trap card! It infects my Vorse Raider and spreads to the monster on the field...then your entire deck!" DTKaiba laughed.

"My deck?? What have you done!!" JKaiba exclaimed, as about 1/2 of his remaining deck gets sent instantly to the graveyard.

'_Oh, no!' _Yami exclaimed in spirit form._ 'Without any powerful monsters in Kaiba's deck, he has little chance of surviving this battle!'_

"Kaiba, don't give up! I know you can do this!" Yugi cried out to him.

DTKaiba was laughing hysterically, assuming that this had just about guaranteed his victory. But JKaiba suddenly snapped, "You think that's funny? Then, laugh at THIS!" and activated his trap card before BEWD could leave the field.

"No! It's a Bell of destruction!" DTKaiba exclaimed.

"No! What is he doing? This could destroy them both!" Yugi cried.

'_He must be desperate, deciding to accept a draw rather than a defeat!'_ Yami stated.

No, Kaiba! Don't do it!!" Yugi yelled.

"Idiot..." one of the other Kaiba's muttered.

"You fool! It'll destroy us both!" DTKaiba snapped.

"Let's find out..." JKaiba said with amusement, having the ring wrap around the Blue Eyes and caused the monster to explode before it could die from the infection virus, smoke and special effects blowing everywhere...making it impossible to see.


	40. C40 Next Stage Kaiba vs Kaiba Chap 2

A/N: The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_**C40 Next Stage - Kaiba vs. Kaiba Chapter 2**_

When everything had finally calmed down and the smoke had cleared...to everyone's surprise, both Kaiba's were both standing...their life points perfectly intact.

"Wha--? What happened?" Joey asked.

"It looks like...both of them activated a Ring of Defense at the same time." Yugi said.

"No way!" Joey stated.

"This is getting way too tense to watch!" Tea said, closing her eyes.

Both Kaiba's stared each other down. Finally DTKaiba was first to speak, saying, "Well...that was a waste of a good card. You knew I had a Ring of Destruction earlier...you had to know I had a Ring of Defense on the field! Why waste it??"

"I had to know for sure. After all...since you're still not very experienced with these new cards, I wasn't certain you'd catch onto the combo move. I had to make sure it wasn't something else, when I made my next move. After all, you can't do much more now except end your turn...and I'm next." JKaiba smirked, picking up a card.

DTKaiba narrowed his eyes. "You're bluffing. You can't do anything now, but summon a weak monster, if that's even possible. You're probably so overwhelmed by magic and trap cards now, I'd be shocked if you can even find a monster in what's left of that deck of yours!"

"Hmph." JKaiba grinned. "I can do more than you think."

DTKaiba's eyes twitched a bit, then glared down frantically at his cards. "I place one card face-down and then activate Card of Demise, replenishing my hand back to 5! I then place 2 more cards face-down and end my turn."

"You sound desperate." JKaiba muttered.

"All you can do is summon some weak pathetic monster. I need but survive 1 turn monster-less on the field and then this game is mine!" DTKaiba spouted.

"We'll see..." JKaiba said, drawing a card. He then activates it, saying, "I use the card Soul Release!"

DTKaiba's eyes widened, showing his fear. 'No...my Blue Eyes! Without it, I have no chance of summoning Ultimate Dragon!'

"Is something wrong?" JKaiba asked calmly.

"Just make your move!" DTKaiba spat, angrily.

During this time, Mokuba had sat down as his head was starting to nod down, ready to fall asleep. He whipped his head back up quickly, trying to force himself to stay awake. But he had been running around when he shouldn't have been, and his cold was once again starting to get the best of him. 'I can't go to sleep.' he thought to himself. 'I need to support Seto. Even if he isn't 'my' Seto...he's still Seto and would want me to support him. I've got to stay awake!'

"Fine, I will. I know what you're thinking...you're just itching to summon the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon for the first time, aren't you? Well, personally...I don't see why you're even thinking about it. After all, you all ready used Polymorization once when you created your Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, remember? That's what you get for jumping the gun...now no Ultimate Dragon for you. But, no...I'm not targeting your monsters...I'm targeting mine. As you recall, you sent X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head to the graveyard from your Dark Hole. Then with your Crush Card, you also sent my Z-Metal Tank to join them. Well, I will now take all 3 of them and remove them from play." JKaiba stated.

Everyone looked at JKaiba strangely, even DTKaiba looked confused. "But...that doesn't make any sense. Why would you remove your monsters from play? What purpose could that possibly achieve!"

JKaiba blinked, expecting DTKaiba to be able to see the strategy clearer than day. He then glanced over at Yugi, finding him equally stunned. 'What? Come on...what's not to understand?'

This move even began to create an argument with the other Kaiba's.

"That's ridiculous...why would he do that?" SMKaiba asked.

"How can you say that? It couldn't be more obvious than if he spelled it out to you!" VWKaiba said.

"If it's so obvious, then maybe you can explain it to us...because I don't see the point of it!" MEKaiba yelled.

Tristan then began to laugh strangely, making Joey really begin to wonder about his friend. "Don't you get it, yet? We're not all part of the same exact time. He must have a card in the deck from his universe that some of us have never seen before!"

"Of course! That would make sense!" Philmore stated.

"Wait a minute...then he wont be able to use it!" SMKaiba exclaimed.

MKaiba retorted, "Yes he can! Any card with an official valid Duel Monster's number code on it can be used, even if it hadn't been brought out to the public yet. That's how the God cards were able to be used in the system, because they were still legal cards made by Pegasus...even if no one ever heard of them before."

"Uh...what's a god card?" Yugi asked.

"You can't use a unique card from your own world!" DTKaiba practically screamed at the other. "It's not even 'in' this existence, yet! That's...that's...not fair!!"

JKaiba laughed at DTKaiba's comment, saying, "It's amusing hearing such a stupid comment coming out of another version of me. Since when is life fair?? I activate Return from a Different Dimension! I have to sacrifice 1/2 my life points in order for it to activate...but I don't think that really matters much, now. This card brings back all the monsters that I have recently removed from play! And as you know, these are three parts to an even greater powerful machine monster. Combined together, they make the XYZ Dragon Cannon!"

Most of Yugi's little group cheered Kaiba on, as he stared confidently down at DTKaiba. He still looked pissed about the new card in his deck that he didn't have. But, otherwise...he didn't seem to be in the least bit concerned.

"Hmph...for someone having a 2800 attack monster breathing down your throat, when you have no monster on the field...you don't seem that worried." JKaiba said.

DTKaiba shrugged. "I'm confident that I'll find a way to obliterate it next round. You just got lucky."

"Well...since you're not too concerned, maybe I should activate it's special ability, allowing me to destroy one card of my choice on the field!" JKaiba announced. That certainly got DTKaiba's attention and you could now finally see a sign of worry in his eyes.

But it faded quickly, as he said. "Well...you have a choice of three cards. Which is it going to be?"

JKaiba made his choice and pointed. "I choose that one!"

DTKaiba grumbled a bit and Mirror Wall was destroyed.

JKaiba smirked, "No wonder you weren't worried. Too bad. Now, let's finish this! XYZ-Dragon Cannon, attack him directly!"

"Not so fast! I activate Negate Attack! It stops your attack for one turn." DTKaiba said.

JKaiba said, "Fine...then I place one card face-down. Not that you'll have much of a turn, anyway. I may have had the effect of a Crush Card damage my deck, but I at present have the second highest duel monster of our decks on the field. And you...you've already used your Polymerization card, making you unable to summon your Ultimate Dragon. That makes you out of luck, kid. Why don't just surrender now and get it over with."

DTKaiba growled, "Will you end your turn, already?!!"

"Impatient to lose? I thought you wouldn't mind delaying what's coming next." JKaiba smirked.

"End the damn turn, already!!" DTKaiba snarled, getting totally flustered.

"Very well...I end my turn." JKaiba smiled, amused on how easily this younger version of him got all worked up. He honestly couldn't remember being so lacking in control back then. He knew he was evil and just what he was capable of...but loss of control? Was he really that quick to snap, like that?

DTKaiba's eyes were twitching, as a trembling hand reached his deck and he roughly yanked it from his deck to look at it. He looked at it and slapped it down, saying, "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to pull 2 more cards to my hand!"

"Do what you want...it's not going to matter." JKaiba smirked. "Even if you pull out a Blue Eyes, you would still have to figure out how to summon it...which you can't."

DTKaiba looked at the cards he just got, then grinned ear to ear, causing the smile on JKaiba's face to fade. Indeed, DTKaiba then laughed like a maniac. "So...you don't think I can win, do you? Well feast your eyes on THIS! I use the magic card, Monster Reborn, returning by Blue Eyes back to life once again in MY control!"

JKaiba didn't look happy, but stated, "I see. Well...it's still not enough to end the game. Even if you attack my monster, I will only loose 200 life points. Even as the low life point level I'm at now, it's still enough to keep you from finishing me."

"It will be, after I activate THIS!" DTKaiba said, slapping down a magic card.

"No! That's a Fusion Gate!" JKaiba exclaimed.

Yami gasped. _'It works like a polymerization card, except it permanently remains on the field allowing this Kaiba to fuse any monster together at any time!'_

"But that also removes all 3 of his BEWDs permanently from play by doing that!" Yugi stated. "Doesn't that matter to him?"

Though DTKaiba wasn't paying attention, his words seemed to perfectly answer their question. "Did you think I'd be so reckless to not have another way at summoning my most powerful monster?" he asked JKaiba.

DTKaiba then looked at the Blue Eyes he returned, spitting, "I will not forgive you for turning on me! You are useless to me, now! So, removing you and all the other Blue Eyes from play will ensure none of you betray me again! Instead, all three will be of greater use as sacrifice by summoning the greatest Duel monster in existence! Behold, my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!"


	41. C41 Next Stage Kaiba vs Kaiba Chap 3

A/N: The following was written by Clarity2199.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

_C41 Next Stage - Kaiba vs. Kaiba Chapter 3_

Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon came to life, after all three Blue Eyes were permanently removed from the game. The 3-headed beast looked down at JKaiba and roared furiously at him, causing him to unconsciously take a step back. The last time he stared down at his own ultimate monster was when he was testing himself by using the god card Obelisk. But he didn't have a god card, this time. And in one vicious blow, he'd lose the duel.

"Come on, Seto...you can do it!" MKaiba blurted out, causing Tristan to smile down at him with pride. JKaiba glanced over at him for a moment, before looking back. He still couldn't get use to the idea that this other version of himself was really Mokuba. It was still too freaky to think about.

MKaiba then looked over to see why Mokuba wasn't cheering. He thought for sure he would have been the one to be right there to support him. But when he looked over, he noticed this other Mokuba was fast asleep. MKaiba smiled. 'I knew he felt bad, but I guess I didn't know how just how much.'

MKaiba then picked him up carefully, only getting a small quiet whimper and gently laid him on a nearby desk, knowing this is what his brother would do if it was him. It wasn't the best placement in the world. But, at the moment, it was all they had. He then covered him up with his trench coat, and turned around to watch the rest of the duel.

DTKaiba was still laughing like a crazy man, as he spat out, "What's the matter, 'Kaiba'?? You don't seem all that confident anymore. How does it feel to be staring down at your death, at your soon to be defeat? Now who's the novice! I told you I was the superior one! And you...you're the one that can't summon an Ultimate Dragon. After all, thanks to my Crush Card...they were also all sent to the graveyard, along with any other monster that was worth anything. Not that it matters, any...because you're not going to survive another minute. This battle is over! Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Ultimate Burst Stream!"

The three Dragons reared their mighty heads at once, attacking XYZ Dragon Cannon. But JKaiba quickly said, "I activate Negate Attack!" forcing Ultimate Dragon to stop his attack.

"Ha! What good will one more turn do? Fine, you want to prolong your pain, then go ahead. I end my turn, now make your move!" DTKaiba snapped.

JKaiba hesitated with his hand on the deck, before drawing a card. He cocked an eyebrow looking at it, but showed nothing more than that, as he said, "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Yugi gasped, "Why didn't Kaiba put it in defense mode?"

'_That's simple, Yugi. Kaiba never puts his monsters in defense mode. He probably assumes if he can't defeat his opponent with the strong monster he has on the field, he doesn't deserve to continue.' _Yami explained.

"But...but..." Yugi stuttered and sighed. "Kaiba just 'has' to win..."

Joey growled, "Come on Kaiba, hang in there!"

JKaiba finally glanced over after hearing Joey and offered a very weak smile, before focusing back on the game.

"You're really starting to enjoy your little cheer-leading groupies, aren't you? Is it desperation, or are you showing your true colors, finally letting everyone see the weak pathetic fool that you really are!" DTKaiba stated, throwing JKaiba's acknowledgement back in his face.

Any sign towards Joey was long-gone now, as he glared at DTKaiba, stating, "It's your turn, or did you forget?"

"I don't forget anything. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon...now take out that pathetic excuse for a monster and finish it's equally weak and pathetic owner!" DTKaiba spat.

As Ultimate Dragon powered up again, JKaiba quickly added, "Hold on! I activate Dragon Capture Jar!"

"What??" DTKaiba questioned in shock, as the whole room gasped.

"That's odd...that's not one of Kaiba's normal cards. How did he get that in his deck?" Yugi asked the pharaoh.

'I'm not sure, Yugi. Could Kaiba have predicted that he would challenge one of the other Kaiba's?'

"You cheated!!" DTKaiba spouted again. "You planned on fighting me and slipped that in...that's why you even challenged me!"

"Enough of your pathetic accusations!" JKaiba snapped. "For your information, my deck is exactly the way it was when I ended up here and it's never been changed...not that it's any of your business! When you accepted my challenge, you accepted every card in my deck, as well! Ultimate Dragon is now forced into defense mode. You still have a turn to finish. If you can't handle the pressure, then surrender the game to me!"

"NEVER!" DTKaiba snapped. He glared daggers at JKaiba then calmed instantly, even smirking. "Fine. But you're only delaying the inevitable. There's nothing you have that can stand against my magnificent beast, even in defense mode. You know you're only stalling for time. How long can you continue the game, before you can no longer find a card that can save you?"

"You should talk. You might have a powerful monster, but it's useless if it can't attack." JKaiba stated.

DTKaiba then sneered, saying, "Are you so sure? Let me clue you in on something..." Kaiba took one of the two cards in his hands and flipped it for JKaiba to see it. Everyone gasped...it was Dust Tornado. "I drew it this turn, but didn't think it was necessary to bother putting on the field yet...until now." DTKaiba then took the card and placed it facedown on the field. "I'm afraid this is your last turn to delay my dragon. As soon as you pick up a card, my trap card will activate, destroying your Dragon Capture Card. This is your last turn to do anything...and on my next turn, I'll obliterate you." JKaiba said nothing, staring at DTKaiba. "I end my turn."

JKaiba brought his hand to the deck, looking at the beast that looked menacing even in defense mode. It all looked so hopeless, and he was beginning to wonder if this time maybe DTKaiba was right. Again, he heard Joey calling, "Come on Kaiba, you can do it!"

'Am I losing because of you, Joey?' JKaiba wondered, as he heard Joey's voice continually cheering for him in the background. 'Is my weakness causing me to lose?'

Even now, he missed Joey...'his' Joey, the one from his world, the one that accepted who he was. He was the reason he had Dragon Capture Jar in his deck in the first place, put there to torment the mutt during a duel with him. At that thought, he blinked. Did his feelings for Joey not just give him another turn to live? 'Maybe it really 'is' a strength. Could it be?'

"Joey..." He couldn't give up on Joey. He had to prove to him and to himself that their relationship did not cause a burden in his life...it was a benefit. But, how could he do that when he didn't believe in it?

As JKaiba thought about him, he pulled his card. Immediately after, DTKaiba announced, "Dust Tornado, Activate! Dragon Capture Jar is now destroyed and my great Dragon is now free to destroy on my command! Hahahahahahaha!!!"

He stared up at this younger more evil and emptier version of him that only understood how to hate and beat everyone else down. Even the kid's eyes reflected emptiness and pain, covered over by his lust for power and his need to prove his superiority to the world. Yugi once told him that a person who duels for all the wrong reasons couldn't win. Was he really right about that? Just because JKaiba fought to save everyone, to save Mokuba, save Joey...did that somehow help his game instead of hurt it?

'But, it can't be. I'd be a fool to believe that.' Kaiba thought. 'I only duel for myself...that's how I've always dueled. I don't need anyone else.' But he knew he was only fooling himself. He needed Mokuba, he needed Joey...

JKaiba finally lifted the card he just pulled and looked at it, all the while DTKaiba was still laughing hysterically. JKaiba's eyes widened the instant he looked at it...he had totally forgotten this card was even in his deck. He then dropped his head and chuckled silently to himself. 'Joey...maybe Yugi was right, all along.'

DTKaiba had finally calmed from his laughter, realizing JKaiba was smiling. No, not sneering, or smirking, none of that...he had a natural smile on his face. DTKaiba didn't know what to think. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually smiled. It looked so...alien. "And what is so amusing?" he snapped back at him, causing their audience to look over. "So...you finally cracked. Maybe you've realized that you're facing your inevitable end."

But JKaiba shook his head. "Not at all...I suppose I realized that maybe I was wrong."

At that, DTKaiba smirked. "Oh? Ready to admit I am the most superior of you all??"

"Don't be ridiculous." JKaiba stated, making DTKaiba scowl. He then looked up at DTKaiba saying, "Someone once told me that the true way of winning is from the support of those that really matter to you. I've never believed those words. In fact, I have mocked and ridiculed that person for preaching to me time and again..."

Yugi's eyes widened, listening to what JKaiba said. He mentally exclaimed, _'Pharaoh...he's talking about us!'_

'What is he saying??' most of the other Kaiba's were thinking, unable to believe what was spouting from this other's mouth...and quite disgusted to hear it, refusing to believe any of it.

"...but after this battle, I am really beginning to believe it." Without flipping it over, JKaiba said, "This card was given to me by someone very important to me. And coincidentally, it's also going to be the card that causes your downfall. You were correct before...this game 'is' over. But you are the one that's going to lose." JKaiba then place his card down on the field. "I end my turn."

DTKaiba looked at him twitching, as he looked at JKaiba, then the card, then JKaiba, then the card again. Then finally, he spouted out, "You're LYING!!" All the hate and anger was seen in DTKaiba's face, in his eyes. It was a strange contrast to see these two, so alike and yet so different. JKaiba standing there, whose face had actually softened some after his speech, looking so calm. And then DTKaiba, who started yelling and screaming and spitting... throwing a flying fit. Despite how close they looked to each other, it was so hard to tell they were actually alike.

Finally, DTKaiba yelled at the top of his lungs, "I HATE YOU! I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU!!"

"I know..." JKaiba quietly muttered, before DTKaiba could even continue on about what it was he hated. JKaiba already knew that DTKaiba hated him...how could he not? They were the same person, and JKaiba hated everything about what he once was, too. He was the one that failed, who gave up, who gave into Gozaburo's teachings...who almost murdered Mokuba. He didn't hate himself now, but he once did.

"You make me sick, just looking at you! So soft and pathetic, cowing down to that worthless baggage you call a brother! I was raised to perfection, to be the CEO of Kaiba Corp and take over everything! But then, I see every future version looking soft, stupid, and pathetic like YOU! I am not like you, I will never be like you! I will not allow it, I will NOT give into weakness! When I'm finish with you, I'm not only going to destroy you...but every other Kaiba that is here! I will KILL them all, and wipe them from existence! I am the only Seto Kaiba!!! I am better than you...do you hear me!! I will make you pay for ever pretending to be ME!!!" was spouting out, all control thrown to the wind.

As DTKaiba continued to rant, Yugi said to his other half,_ 'Kaiba said that card he put down was given to him by someone very important to him. Could he mean Mokuba? That evil Kaiba seems to think so. But, Mokuba doesn't play Duel Monsters.'_

'_Perhaps Mokuba bought the card for him as a present.' _Yami answered.

Yugi nodded,_ 'That's true.'_

Joey blurted out, "Hey, Yug...when did Mokuba get into Duel Monsters?"

"Yeah." MKaiba agreed, making Joey look over at him weird. "You know...this is all 'way' too weird for one day."

DTKaiba must have been throwing a fit for a good solid five minutes, before he could finally begin to calm. Somehow, this Kaiba he was fighting had some way of getting under his skin and driving him insane. But now he was finally under control again.

DTKaiba dusted himself off, straightened out his clothes, and glared coldly at JKaiba. He then smirked, acting as if nothing like that had just occurred, totally opposite than before. "Enough of this nonsense. You're obviously bluffing. You couldn't have anything to destroy my Ultimate Dragon. Now, prepare your demise. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, use Ultimate Burst Stream and finally destroy that pitiful excuse for a Duel Monster!!"

Ultimate Dragon powered up, as JKaiba stood there, seeming to do nothing - causing DTKaiba's confidence to grow even more. 'I knew he was bluffing. The death throws of the hopeless, trying to con his way out with that disgusting speech. He'll deserve exactly what's coming to him!'

The others watched in fear that DTKaiba would win this time. And just at the last second, as the blast began to come near, JKaiba cried out, "I activate my trap card!"

"Say, what??" Joey exclaimed.

"It can't be!" Yugi cried.

"Oh my god!" Tea said.

"No way!" some of the other Kaiba's blurted out.

The trap card was revealed to be of all things...Grave Robber.

"But that's MY card!!" Joey spit out, making all the other Kaiba's look over at him, causing Joey to blush and look away uncomfortably, as if he did something wrong...even if he had nothing to do with it.

"And with it." JKaiba said, "I will use it to steal your mega morph and attach it to my XYZ Dragon Cannon."

"No, wait! It can't be! Stop!" DTKaiba said in a panic, doing anything to try and stop his own monster's attack, but it was too late...the dragon had already attacked.

It struck the XYZ Dragon Cannon, which retaliated... blasting it's own power forth. And with now 5600 attack points, it destroyed Ultimate Dragon...blasting right through it and hitting DTKaiba directly. DTKaiba cried out, as the blast hit hard, sending him flying - cards scattering everywhere. His life point chart dropped him down to 0...JKaiba was the winner.

Though conscious, DTKaiba was twitching...looking insane, as he mumbled to himself in disbelief, huddling on the floor, "I lost...I lost...I lost...I...lost..."

Yugi's little group was cheering him a victory cheer, despite the way he won. The other Kaiba's were speechless, unable to speak. Well...except for MKaiba who was cheering him with the others.

All but MEKaiba and VWKaiba, who found about his relationship with Joey sooner, took that moment to look at JKaiba, eyeing him curiously. 'That's not me.' They all thought. 'It can't be!'

Even GSeto didn't seem to understand. From what was said, the card JKaiba used belonged to that Joey person. 'But, what does he have to do with me?' he thought, not getting it, at all. It wasn't Mokuba, so that person should have no significance at all to him.

"Hey! Can I get down yet??" OSeto asked, not really caring about what was going on, simply wanting to get down.

JKaiba now approached the twitching mass that was once DTKaiba. He glared down at him, stating, "You said if you lost, you'd let everyone go and surrender yourself. I expect you to honor your side of the deal."

"What?" DTKaiba asked, looking up at him. He then leaped up, snapping, "Never! Security, kill him, NOW!"

But by this time, none of the guards would lift a finger to do as DTKaiba said, anymore. They refused to accept that Seto Kaiba would lose a battle to an imposter. That meant...that couldn't be the real Seto Kaiba. Therefore, real Kaiba must be the one that won. They crossed their arms, refusing to budge.

"Do you hear me? How DARE you disobey me! I'll have you all termina..."

That was as far as DTKaiba got with his further rambling, before JKaiba decked him as hard as he could, knocking him out cold.

Roland now approached and bowed, saying, "Master Kaiba, please forgive us! All these copies...they were confusing to tell who was the real one!"

"Just untie all the others, then take the rest of your security team and get out!" JKaiba snapped.

"But...what should we do with these other look-alikes, sir?" Roland asked.

"They're harmless. I'll deal with them, including this thing, here..." JKaiba said, kicking the limp DTKaiba.

"Yes, sir." Roland nodded, as he directed the other security to immediately begin to let them go.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

They were soon all released, and the guards soon left in a hurry afterwards, hoping they weren't all going to be fired for this. The other Kaiba's began to tie DTKaiba up tight, to ensure he wasn't going to do anymore harm, with JKaiba looking down at his defeated foe, arms crossed and standing tall.

Yugi's group approached...all but Tristan, leaning against a wall, arms crossed. Yugi looked up and smiled, saying, "Hey, Kaiba...I knew you could do it!"

"Whatever." JKaiba said, acting as cold as usual, once again.

"Um...what you said about someone convincing you of believing in those that really mattered to you, and how it affects a duel. Well...I was wondering who you were talking about. Was that me?" Yugi asked.

JKaiba smirked, stating, "You're not the only one who preaches to me, Yugi."

Joey then approached, as he cleared his throat and nervously asked, "Uh...how'd you get that card, Kaiba?"

JKaiba then looked over at him almost seductively, asking, "Don't you know? You gave it to me..." He knew it wasn't him, but he loved to mess with the guy.

Joey immediately swallowed and backed away.

"Then it was Joey...wasn't it?" Yugi said, and smiled...beginning to understand. "But, what about that Dragon Capture Jar? That's not one of your normal cards, either." Yugi said.

"I know." JKaiba said, pulling the card from his deck. "That Mutt keeps insisting on trying to duel me...and he has a dragon card, as well. I simply put this in to torture him a little bit. I never imagined I'd be using it against myself."

JKaiba then glanced back up at Joey, who was looking at him totally confused and unsure if he should act fearful, or angry for Kaiba calling him a mutt and claiming to tease him...or honored that Kaiba actually battled him more often. So, he just stood there with a typical blank look on his face.


	42. C42 The Long Goodbyes

_**C42 The Long Good-byes** _

"Enough of this, we need to get everything back to normal by getting back to our own worlds." JKaiba said.

Yugi nodded, "I agree." and immediately began to mentally converse with his other self in order to try and figure out a way to fix this problem that had occurred.

As JKaiba and Yugi conversed, MKaiba walked over to KTristan.

KTristan looked away, ashamed at what he'd done and fearful of seeing disappointment in his brother's eyes, yet again.

But there was no hint of judgment in MKaiba's eyes. If anything, he placed himself to blame. Like a fool, he had allowed himself to actually believe in his own brother's lies that everything's okay and it's the way he wanted it. After hearing it enough times, he eventually began to convince himself. He even began to eventually see him more as a computer program and less as a brother. If anything, he is the one who's head should hang in shame. How could Seto ever forgive him for his lack of action?

But no words could be said from Mokuba to properly express this. And he knew his brother enough to know if he tried, his brother would probably only blame himself more. So there was only one thing left to do. He approached and hugged him for the first time in years.

KTristan froze at first from the shock of human contact, not exactly sure what to do. It also confused him, since he automatically believed his brother would condemn him for his crimes. But it didn't last long for him to gladly accept his brother's embrace. It felt so good for him to hold his little brother again, despite what they both looked like.

Then again, it felt good to have any human contact. And at the same time, he also felt guilty just for feeling that way, knowing it was wrong... knowing he had no right to feel anything in a body that wasn't his, in a body he had wrongfully stolen. What kind of lesson was he trying to teach his brother, anyway?

Kaiba was never known for words, and had little to say... but he had to say something. His head still lowered in shame, he gave a weak chuckle which was directed at himself and softly muttered out, "I guess I failed you again." How many times had KTristan mentally marked down the times he failed his brother? From Death-T...he failed him when he tried to kill his own brother, then felt he failed him again as he witnessed another version of himself repeat the same history before his eyes...threatening to kill his brother, kill himself, kill anything that stood in his way without care or fear of consequence. And even though it wasn't him, he still held that failure to himself, as if he was the one standing there, chaining everyone up and laughing like a maniac. After all, he was the one that foolishly joined sides with this evil, and helped him. The other Kaiba that accused him was absolutely right...he knew exactly what he was doing. He just didn't care. Then of course, that fateful day when his Mokuba died, that had to be the biggest failure of them all... unable to do anything to stop it. Yes, he sacrificed himself... but did that help? Was his brother happy? Would his brother ever be himself again?

And MKaiba could all ready tell... he had seen the look in his brother's eyes too many times before. No matter how many sacrifices his brother made for him, none of them ever counted for Kaiba, only seeing the loss and failure, instead. So, it was nothing new to see his brother putting himself down, yet again... MKaiba just wished he wouldn't do it so often. "Seto... you didn't fail me. You never did." Mokuba said, wishing his brother would understand, but knowing those words would never sink in. He held him tighter, explaining, "You're not alone in this, Seto. I... I missed you, too."

MKaiba then buried his face in KTristan's chest, choking out, "I never thought I'd get the chance to hug you again..."

KTristan didn't reply to him. He didn't have to. Words were never easy for him to describe how he felt. Just accepting the embrace and offering his own was enough. He just stood there, holding him tightly, as if afraid he would disappear and all this would be nothing but an illusion, created from the madness in his own mind after being stuck in that computer for so long.

At that moment, Joey suddenly approached, tapping KTristan on the shoulder. "Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt any touching reunions here...but where's my friend, and what did you do ta him?? You got some explaining to do, Kaiba!!"

KTristan glared sharply over at Joey for daring to interrupt, as he snapped, "I don't need to explain anything to you, mutt." KTristan paused from his words, as he said that. Damn, it felt good to be able to say that again to Joey's face, instead of having him be practically the only person left he could rely on to be there and talk with.

"Leave him alone!" MKaiba snapped at him, protectively. "He didn't mean anything by it. Tristan's fine...we'll get him back soon. But don't you talk to my brother that way!"

Joey didn't want to fight with any Mokuba, even if he did look like Kaiba. He knew with all these other Kaiba's here, he'd be begging for a quick funeral to even try. So instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Say, how did you end up looking like him, anyway?"

"That's none of your business!" KTristan hissed, offering his own protection. After all... he still had a promise to keep. Unless Mokuba wanted someone to know, it was his full intention for MKaiba to keep his secret safe. It was the least he could do, after all he had done.

As usual, Joey immediately glared over at KTristan, growling like the very dog he was accused of being a moment ago. But before he could get another word out, a hand was slapped on Joey's shoulder.

Joey froze solid, some knowing it was a Kaiba that made contact and suddenly fearful that maybe even asking that simple question with this Mokuba was crossing the line. And Joey was right...it was a Kaiba. But the words from this one was unexpected, as this Kaiba coolly stated, "The pup still had a point... it's time to take back your body. Where was this done, at Kaiba Corp?"

Joey glanced up, confused. Did a Kaiba just defend him??

JKaiba glanced over at KTristan, and with the hint of a smile, added, "Why don't you and 'your' Mokuba drive down and take care of the matter... then you can head back here."

KTristan blinked, realizing what JKaiba was suggesting... a little more time with his Mokuba, before going back to what he was, and giving them some privacy in the process. KTristan was so thrilled, he almost smiled... almost.

KTristan turned to MKaiba and nodded up at him, saying, "He's right. We need to get this taken care of."

MKaiba nodded back, unsure if he was happy or upset about the idea. He understood this would give him more time with his brother. But, at the same time, they were going to send his brother back into the computer again... and that was harder for him to do than any of them could realize. The two of them then turned and headed for the door.

A few of the other Kaiba's turned to look at them as they walked out, curious themselves as to how Mokuba would end up looking like them. But none of them asked, perhaps fearful of learning the answer. Besides, they too saw it the same was as JKaiba did... the pair needed this time together, and none of them would dare interrupt.

Joey smiled, watching the two leave. He then muttered, "Yeah, I guess they could use some time alone, huh?" looking up at the Kaiba with his hand still on Joey's shoulder...and suddenly paled, realizing exactly which Kaiba this was.

"He's not the only one." JKaiba muttered, grinning wickedly down at Joey.

"Yaaahh!!" Joey yelled out loud, immediately jerking back away from JKaiba in terror, as he backed into a table with a lamp on it, knocking it over and falling over it in the process.

Joey's head was spinning, as he thought he was hearing triple. Did he just hear, "stupid mutt" in three Kaiba voices, nearby??

As he looked up, he dazedly noticed one looking down at him with a smirk, and offering his hand, muttering, "Get up, all ready. You're acting even more stupid...if that's possible."

Joey obediently did so, as he was still trying to shake the dizziness from his brain after falling over. JKaiba helped him up, then moved closer to him, causing Joey to instantly freak and back up again. This time JKaiba made sure it would direct him correctly, causing Joey to back up right in the corner of the room.

Joey had snapped out of it finally, after JKaiba was quickly advancing on him, and remembered why he tripped over the lamp. It was that 'weird' Kaiba, and he just helped him up...and still had his hand, and oh shit! Where did this corner wall come from??

JKaiba was entirely in his way blocking him from running, as his face came closer and purred, "You know puppy... until someone can figure out a way to get me back to my own world, I was thinking that we might have a little fun of our own." As he said this, JKaiba ran a delicate finger lightly down Joey's chest.

Joey gulped. "Wh-what kind of fun?" having the feeling he didn't want to know the answer.

JKaiba leaned in close, nibbled his ear a bit and then whispered something in his ear.

Joey's eyes went wide! "I'm out of here!" then he moved past JKaiba only to trip again. Then quickly jumped up and was still freaking out with all these Kaiba's here and said, "I-I think I've gotta get to work!"

The girls and even Yugi laughed as Joey ran out of the room. JKaiba smiled. Sure, he knew it was mean... but he thought it would be funny to torture him more. Besides, he owed him for humiliating him in front of Yugi and the others, when he first arrived. Even though Joey had been telling the truth that they weren't involved all along, that didn't mean he was willing to forgive him for the possible embarrassment he suffered in the process of learning this.

"What's got into him?" Tea asked.

"I wonder what that Kaiba said to him?" Angie asked.

"Whatever it was, Joey didn't look very happy about it..." Yugi blushed.

Suddenly, MEKaiba remembered something and turned to see Philmore still standing not too far away. "Wait a minute." MEKaiba snapped. "Shouldn't you be going to Kaiba Corp, as well?"

Philmore looked over, and shrugged. "I suppose." he said, not seeming to be in too much of a rush to head over there.

"Hey, that's right." Tea said. "You should have went over with Tristan and that other Kaiba...I mean Mokuba." 'Oh, these Kaiba's and Mokuba's are so confusing!' she thought.

Philmore looked away, saying, "No, I think they were fine on their own. I'll just take another car."

"No you wont." SMKaiba muttered. Then with a smirk, he said, "You're not legal to drive at that age. In fact, I don't even think you could reach the petals."

"Funny." Philmore snapped, not finding it at all amusing. "Don't worry about me...I'll find a way." and began to march towards the door defiantly.

But JKaiba jumped in the way, muttering, "Don't be stupid. If you ended up getting into an accident due to your stubbornness, I don't think your Mokuba would be very happy to hear how you died."

Philmore glared angrily up at him. He knew JKaiba was saying this only for his Mokuba's sake. But that didn't mean he had to like it. "Well, you're the know it all, here...so, what are you suggesting?"

"Hey, why don't you go back with Angie! She has a license." Yugi suddenly suggested.

"I am NOT going with her!" "I am NOT going with him!" was uttered at the same time from both Angie and Philmore, causing them to stop and look at each other strangely. They then both turned away from each other in a huff.

With a loud sigh, VWKaiba said, "Come on, I might as well take you. Its getting boring standing around waiting for something to happen, anyway."

Philmore silently followed, saying nothing...and only taking a moment to give a glare back at Angie before he left, as they threw unseen daggers at each other from their eyes.

'I am 'never' liking that creep!' Angie insisted. 'I don't care how much the Kaiba from this world might like me...I am so not interested!!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The road trip to Kaiba Corp was a quiet one. KTristan drove, staring intently at the road, with MKaiba sitting next to him, continuously glancing back over at Tristan, before looking ahead...the silent unspoken words all ready hanging in the air, still not being said and making it thick and tense in the space where they sat so close to each other.

MKaiba was the first to have to speak, unable to handle the silence hanging between them. Shaking, he spat out, "It's not fair! You shouldn't have to go back like that!"

"Life's not..." KTristan began to mutter, but MKaiba cut him off.

"No, I'm tired of it! I'm not hearing it anymore." MKaiba spat out. "I've heard you explain 'life's not fair to me' ever since..." MKaiba quieted and turned away. "Even before that, as long ago as when our mother and father died." MKaiba turned back, snapping, "Why should we always be the ones to get the brunt of what life has to offer us? Why us?"

KTristan quietly turned away, trying to hide the pain on his face and silently blaming himself once again for his brother's pain. "It's too late. There's nothing we can do about it."

"...yes there is." MKaiba answered, with a dark glint in his eyes.

KTristan's eyes widened at his brother's words, and glanced over at him. It was frightening to see, his brother acting so much like...like him. With the strange glare in his brother's eyes and in Kaiba's body...he now looked just like him.

"Stop it!" KTristan snapped, refusing to see Mokuba act anything like him. "I know what you're thinking, and it's wrong!"

"No it's not! You thought of it, too! Why would it be so wrong for you to have a body? Maybe...maybe it doesn't have to be Tristan. We could send him on his way, and find some other guy and...Yugi's group would never know. They don't know what body you came in."

KTristan looked away, back towards the road. "Even they aren't 'that' stupid. They would know quick enough, and our version would easily figure it out. They'd never let us out of here."

"Then we'll stay." Mokuba insisted.

"Stop it." KTristan snapped. "Just because I came up such a ridiculous idea, doesn't mean I want you thinking about it. It's not right...it's wrong. No one deserves to be trapped like that. It was my sacrifice to you...I'd do it again."

MKaiba then fell silent, realizing he'd never be able to convince his brother to take another's body. And he also knew his brother was right...it was wrong to steal someone else's body and trap them in the computer against their will like that. He just wished the others could see that it wasn't his Seto doing the bad things. If anything...it was his brother that kept him honest. He wasn't the better one. And soon they would go back with the others, having to witness 'the looks' from Yugi's group, trying to place judgment on his brother and the other Seto who took sides with DTKaiba. In fact...even DTKaiba MKaiba felt sorry for, knowing he didn't really mean it. His brother was just like that once. It was their stepfather's fault, not his. His brother tried...he just couldn't hold onto his heart any longer. So much pain...

MKaiba then glanced over at KTristan as he drove, wondering how much pain Seto had to deal with on a 24-hour basis in that computer all the time. 'I've been trying so much to make the computer bigger and easier for Seto to take over and do things...but now I finally understand. No matter how much I try and give him, it'll never be enough...it'll never be able to replace his humanity. Well, I'll find a way Seto...I'll help you, somehow.'

They made it to Kaiba Corp, and pulled over in front. KTristan then finally faced MKaiba again, as he began to explain, "Remember, I'm Tristan and..."

"...I know, I'm you." MKaiba smiled, saying, "I've been playing that role for so long, it would be hard not to remember."

KTristan gave a sad smile at that, and walked out of the car. MKaiba did the same, putting on his 'game' face, as he pretended to be Kaiba.

"Mr. Kaiba." the security bowed, hoping to have the right one, this time. MKaiba entered without uttering a word, with Tristan following behind, equally quiet. They entered the elevator, and headed for the floor of the VR experimental work.

MKaiba then looked over and went into a bear hug, surprising KTristan. He tried to pull him off, muttering, "Mokuba, we're in an elevator...it's going to stop any minute!"

"Who cares, it's not even our world!" MKaiba protested. "I just want to say...I'm sorry!!"

KTristan quickly hit the emergency stop on the elevator to prevent anyone from seeing this sight. He then held him as well, saying, "Sorry...for what? You have nothing to be sorry for..."

"I have everything to be sorry for! You've been there for me all this time, sacrificed so much for me, and what have I been doing? I've been ignoring you and barely been seeing you anymore! Why don't you hate me for that? You gave me your body, your life, and I abandoned you!" MKaiba bawled.

"Stop, Mokuba...stop it!" KTristan said, shaking his brother. "I never asked for anything in return for what I did. The only thing I ever wanted from you was for you to be happy. I can't say I didn't miss you. But, don't think for a moment I ever felt regret for what I did. I...I was glad that I didn't see you."

"Wh-what??" Mokuba asked, not understanding the last comment.

KTristan gave a weak smile. "It meant you moved on and found a life in the body you're in, now. If you continued to see me all the time and cling to me, it would mean I failed...that despite the sacrifice, you were still not happy. I couldn't save all of you...and because of that it cost you your childhood. But, at least you had one body to keep, that allowed you to feel and live on. Please, Mokuba...don't ever regret what I did for you."

Tears came down MKaiba's face, as he hugged him tight, saying, "I wont, Seto. Thank you...I never regretted it. I...I just wish..."

"...don't wish for what you can't have. That was my mistake." KTristan said. He gently moved MKaiba away and hit the button to resume the elevator's movement.

As they got to the room, KTristan quickly made preparations. He had to...if he hesitated, he might start to consider what Mokuba said earlier and try and keep a body, after all.

Once the preparations were made, KTristan said, "It's ready. Time for me to take a seat. You know the controls, Mokuba."

MKaiba then stepped in front, saying, "You know, you don't have to. I can do this, instead. You can finally have your own body back."

KTristan turned away sharply, saying, "Don't ever say that again."

Mokuba nodded sadly, then held him again, as KTristan gladly held him tight...it might be the last time they ever got a chance to.

It was KTristan that forced the embrace to end, pulling himself away before temptation could strike him again. He walked over to the machine, at sat down in the chair. Then looking over at his brother, he said, "Don't think about it...just do it."

Looking down at the machine, MKaiba sniffed, rubbing his eyes from the tears escaping. He found the real Tristan in the computer system, then activated the machine...forcing his brother's consciousness back into the VR system.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Let me out of here!" Tristan cried, still looking like a metal monkey. Suddenly Kaiba was standing beside him, shocking Tristan. "It...it's you! Ooo-ooo!! Let me out of this place!!"

"Don't worry...I'm sending you back. But, I want you to know something before I do. When you come out of it, you'll be greeted by someone who looks like me. Just keep in mind the one helping you back to normal is not the one that sent you here. And you better be nice to him, if you know what's good for you...or you might just end up back here!" Kaiba snapped coldly at him.

"Uh...yeah, okay. I don't care who's helping me, I just want out! I'll be nice to whoever you want me to, okay??" Tristan whined.

"Fine."

"Yaaahhh!!" Tristan cried out, as the world against seemed to spin around him. When he woke up, he was himself again, and felt so sick he was sure he was going to vomit. As he looked around finally, he noticed sure enough another Kaiba looking down at him. In fact, this Kaiba didn't look happy either, as if Tristan just pissed on his Wheaties.

Tristan swallowed, remembering what the other one said to him. 'Be nice, be nice...I don't wanna go back!' Putting on the brightest and fakest grin he could, he cried out, "Uh, hi. Nice to meet you!!" holding out a hand to him.

MKaiba blinked a couple times, definitely not expecting that for a response, after what Tristan had gone through. "Uh...yeah. Well, come on...we need to head back to the mansion. Yugi and the others are waiting there."

"Hold on." A kid suddenly called out from behind them.

They both turned to see Philmore standing there, not looking very happy, either. He sighed, saying, "I guess you have one more to also transfer over."

MKaiba's heart sunk even further...this was just not his day. So, he had 2 versions of his brother to send back to that personal hell. Could the day get any better?

"Relax...I'll take care of it." VWKaiba stated, also stepping into the room. "Why don't you two head back to the car. This should only take a minute."

MKaiba gave a sigh of relief, nodding to VWKaiba. Before they walked away, he gave VWKaiba a grateful hug. Tristan looked oddly at the sight of two Kaiba's hugging each other. VWKaiba caught the look and glared, snapping, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing!" he called out in a panic, hoping his stare wasn't going to cause the two Kaiba's to send him back again, and quickly rushed into the hallway.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba finally returned, with VWKaiba and Tristan walking barely behind. "How did it go?" MEKaiba asked.

VWKaiba simply answered, "Fine."

MKaiba added, "Philmore got his body back, and finally headed back home. I just hope there won't be any lawsuits from that."

"There won't be." VWKaiba answered. "I erased that part of his mind...he wont remember a thing." he smirked.

Most of the Kaiba's actually nodded in approval of this, but Yugi's gang all looked shocked and horrified.

Joey snapped, "Hey, you can't just go erasing people's brains like that?? What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Hey, he probably did that kid a favor!" Tristan said, actually seeming to defend him. "What I remember of being there, I wish I hadn't. It's a nightmare being trapped in a Virtual World!"

MKaiba flinched and looked away, trying not hear that part. 'I'll save you, Seto...I'll save you like you saved me. Somehow...I'll do it.'

But, he wasn't the only one that reacted. VWKaiba seemed to hesitate for a moment as well, before he quickly put on his familiar look if disinterest. It was true that not he nor Mokuba had such a problem back in his world, and he wasn't anymore sympathetic over MKaiba's situation than any other version of Kaiba was. But, there 'was' one person in his world having to live in that same situation that he never brought up to anyone here...Noah. True, VWKaiba never allowed himself to feel anything for the kid Mokuba kept insisting was their stepbrother...but the fact of the matter what, his brother cared. He hated the feeling of having to possibly share Mokuba's love with someone who tried to take his very brother away from him. But, it also made him think of what Noah was going through. Maybe Mokuba had a point, and the kid was like that because of the virtual world he was thrown into. It was strange feeling bad for someone that wasn't Mokuba...but the feeling was there.

"Well, I'm glad to see everyone's back." Yami stated. "I believe I discovered a way to send everyone back to where they belong," Then looking down at Mokuba, he said, "...but I'm going to need Mokuba's help to do this."

JKaiba nodded, walked over and smiled down at Mokuba. The little boy was sound asleep on a desk with MKaiba's coat wrapped around him like a blanket. JKaiba gently took the coat off, and seeing the boy shiver, he almost wished he hadn't.

"Here, Mokuba, I believe this is yours." JKaiba said, handing MKaiba his coat back.

MKaiba took it and smiled. "Yeah, thanks Seto."

'He looks so peaceful, I hate to wake him up.' JKaiba thought looking down at Mokuba. But he knew he had to. "Mokuba, come on kiddo... time to get up." JKaiba said, gently waking the boy.

"Seto...? What's going on?" Mokuba asked, still half asleep.

JKaiba answered, "Yugi said he needs you to help return us home. Are you up for it?"

Mokuba smiled, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Hold on." VWKaiba said. He turned to Yami, stating, "This isn't going to hurt him, is it?"

"No." Yami answered.

"What are the risks involved for him?" VWKaiba then asked.

"There should be none." Yami stated.

That was enough to ease JKaiba mind for now, as he turned back to Mokuba and offered him a smile, saying, "Well, if this works...then I guess this is going to be good-bye."

As Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes, JKaiba bent down and gave the boy a hug. He then leaned back and said, "I don't understand it, but I know now you were right all along. This isn't my world. I hope you feel better soon." He then kissed his forehead, before backing away to let him get up.

Mokuba smiled. "Thanks." Mokuba still wasn't sure how he could tell the differences between these other versions of his brother. But, they were there, and he could tell every Kaiba apart without them even speaking. Some of them actually had some subtle differences apart, but not all of them. But for Mokuba, he didn't need to know those differences to tell.

MEKaiba also wanted to say good-bye to Mokuba in that way, but he was afraid to. Getting near him caused JKaiba to glare at him almost every single. And...it was starting to get to him. He knew if he tried to distance himself from his own Mokuba, it would only cause them to fight again and hurt his brother. But being around these other versions of himself only made him feel more and more wrong for what he had been doing. Maybe he was wrong...surely incest was illegal for a reason.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't atleast say good-bye to Mokuba, either. MEKaiba finally approached, despite the warning glare from JKaiba. But he didn't hug him, either. He gave a careful pat on Mokuba's head, ruffling his hair, and said, "Get-well soon, kiddo." MEKaiba then quickly backed away.

SMKaiba was next, offering him a hug, as he added, "Same here. Get well soon. It's been nice knowing you." He then kissed the side of his head and released him.

VWKaiba then walked over. He gave a slight hesitation, not sure if he should just hug him or offer a simple good-bye. But Mokuba helped him out there, as he brought his arms up expectantly. VWKaiba couldn't say no, and accepted the embrace. He then pulled away, saying, "You better make sure to get some rest. If your brother sees you still sick, he's not going to be happy."

"I know." Mokuba nodded.

Then MKaiba came forward. He awkwardly leaned down and silently hugged him...not sure what to say to his other self. But as Mokuba hugged back, he could hear him sniffing. MKaiba pulled away to see Mokuba rub his eyes, trying to mask that he was now crying.

MKaiba asked, "What's wrong? Did I do something?"

"I'm just...I'm sorry!" Mokuba said. "I know who you are, now. I don't know why I could never see it before. Maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I didn't want to think about...why."

"Oh." MKaiba said. "I'm sorry. That's why I didn't want to tell you."

Mokuba shook his head. "I understand."

After the duel, Mokuba had woken for a small amount of time. It was enough time to hear that MKaiba was another 'him.' and KTristan was his actual brother. Maybe he knew it all along. But when he heard that, he wished he didn't. It was the harsh reality of just how extreme his brother was willing to go in order to protect him. And seeing how sick he had been for awhile, it could have just as easily ended up the way it did with MKaiba.

"What happened? Why did you have to end up in Seto's body?" Mokuba asked. A part of him said forget it, you're better off not knowing. But then he felt he had to know.

"I was dying and Seto did this in order to save me." MKaiba said.

"Save you from what?" Mokuba asked.

MKaiba assumed he all ready knew this much, there was no sense hiding anything else. With a sigh, he answered, "I was sick and dying. Seto couldn't save me...so he gave me his body instead, and put himself inside the computer. It was the only way he knew how to help me..."

All the other Kaiba's that didn't know this paled...they were right, they didn't want to know it, either.

GSeto was probably one of the few who felt no remorse at all for what was done. If anything...those words put him in complete awe. 'If only I could be that way.' he thought. If he could only be Mokuba's hero like he wanted to be. He had failed so many times. 'But, what could I do?' At one time, GSeto was ready to cop out and do whatever he could to try and stay in this world. But, now he understood that giving up and running away was never the answer. Even if he did fail Mokuba in the past, running away certainly wouldn't help his brother now. He had to go back, and find some way to fix what he screwed up. Back home, there had to be some kind of answer to all of this. He simply have to find it.

"Oh." Mokuba said, looking down. It took him a minute to get through the shock of it, as another odd question formed in his head. "I...I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" MKaiba asked.

"I wonder if that would have happened to me."

"That's preposterous." SMKaiba stated. "This Mokuba had a fatal illness. It has nothing to do with you."

Mokuba sighed, "I didn't have a cold. I had a rare virus that was going to kill me."

All Kaiba's froze in fear. "You said 'was'." VWKaiba quickly pointed out. "Last I knew, fatal illnesses you don't simply 'get better' from."

"I can't explain it. All I know is I woke up and Seto said I was going to be okay." Mokuba said, wiping his tears away. "I think it had something to do with Aiko. She has some kind of magic... I think she healed me. Seto once said something about going to an alternate world. I never really learned all the details on it, Seto wouldn't tell me. All I know is another Seto showed up who claimed to be from an alternate world, and that's why 'my' Seto left. Someone had to find the world he came from and so 'my' Seto went in search of it."

"Well, I suppose that slightly explains why the Seto Kaiba of this world was no where to be found." VWKaiba said.

JKaiba snapped, "It explains nothing...there's no such thing as magic. If Mokuba's better, he healed on his own, despite this ridiculous voodoo woman that obviously brainwashed Mokuba into thinking she cast some spell on him. That has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard!"

Yugi and his friends just smiled, knowingly...even Mokuba smiled from that, reminding him of his own brother. And JKaiba wasn't the only Kaiba agreeing to this theory, despite the obvious that was right in their faces. But they remained silent, assuming JKaiba had basically said what was all ready on their minds.

GSeto was simply confused by this. Life never offered him or his brother some kind of 'cheat code' to life's miseries. So, how could it have happened to Mokuba here? But, from what he has seen, a lot of these mysteries seem to rotate around the strange short guy with the rainbow colored hair. 'I need to remember to look him up sometime when I get back. Maybe he might have the key to solving my problems.' GSeto thought.

While, JKaiba had been sending his protest about magic, MKaiba thought, 'I'm glad that woman helped him, but I wish she could have helped me to. Now I'm almost glad my Seto wasn't right here to hear this. I know he's been feeling bad enough to put me in his body...he would have felt terrible if he heard one Mokuba was saved from this, and not me.'

"We should probably start getting everyone back, now." Tea suddenly decided to remind everyone.

At Tea's comment, Angie asked, "Well, everyone's all together, right? We didn't miss anyone, did we?"

They all looked around, making sure everyone was accounted for.

"Wait a minute...I think we are missing one." Yugi then said.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The guards had released all but OSeto. There were so many different Kaiba's, the guards were spooked and fearful of losing their jobs. Though they didn't mean to, they had still accidentally overlooked him. "Can someone get me down!"

Tristan didn't see the harm in it, so he went over and released him.

The moment OSeto was released he looked around. "That's it! I'm out of here!" OSeto was out of the room before anyone could stop him.

"Why don't you two go get him." JKaiba stated to Kaiba's 2 and 4. "We're going to need to send him back soon, as well." JKaiba said, still not wanting to believe that hippie-looking guy could possibly be another version of them, but he didn't want to chance it till they knew for sure.

"What for?" VWKaiba asked, who was number 4. "You don't honestly think he's one of us...do you?"

"It's a moot point." JKaiba stated. "He's not from here. Whoever he is, he still needs to go back." Then with an evil sneer, he added, "Besides...whatever way is used to get us back, we'll send him as the patsy first."

Both VWKaiba and SMKaiba grinned in unison from JKaiba's suggestion... VWKaiba even laughed. For probably the first time since they've been there, they seemed to be in agreement. Both then turned and casually left to drag him back.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba A/N: Heh, sorry. Did I forget last week's chapter? Sorry, I try not to.

We're getting questions on what was the fate of the real Kaiba. Patients people, one plot line at a time here. I'll let you in a small spoiler to satisfy your curiosity. You will learn what happened with the real Kaiba and Noah along with any other question you may have after this story line ends. This will happen in chapter 44. This story on our end is completed. But we torture you by only doing one chapter a week. In total there will be 63 chapters.


	43. C43 Getting Home

_C43 Getting Home_

OSeto casually headed down the hall, in an attempt to find the exit. This was in fact the third hall he turned down, and was getting lost very quickly. But the more he walked, the more he felt he had been here, before. And it wasn't a good feeling, either.

OSeto instinctually started to shrink himself smaller and smaller, as he eyes got larger looking over the massively foreboding halls of the mansion. 'What's this place remind me of?' he wondered, trying to figure out his own fear.

He then took another turn and ran right into the statue of a BEWD statue. Immediately, he jumped back and screamed, "Yaaahhh!!"

"He's this way." SMKaiba muttered dryly to the other, as they headed in the direction of the distant yell.

Now OSeto finally began to realize what this place was like...Kaiba's home.

"What the hell are we doing in Kaiba's place??" he spat out to himself, ogling the statue. He blinked, as he remembered a similar statue that was at what was supposedly Kaiba Corp. It was beautiful. But, Kaiba didn't have statues of Blue Eyes. No...they were Red Eyes.

Suddenly things finally began to sink into OSeto's head...like how everyone kept saying that Joey was not Kaiba. 'They're right.' he thought. 'They're absolutely right. Then, that means...' "Oh my god!!" OSeto blurted, as he put 2 and 2 together...coming up with 3, and who Kaiba had to be in this world.

He got it, now. It took a long while for it to sink in, but with the statues everywhere with all those Blue Eyes, OSeto saw no other person that could be Kaiba. 'There's no way...there's just no way. This is a frigg'n nightmare!'

Then suddenly, a strong pair of hands suddenly reached out and pulled him away from the statue. "Just what do you think you're doing?" VWKaiba asked.

SMKaiba sneered, "Looks to me like he's scared of a little dragon statue."

"We gotta get out of here!" OSeto blurted to them. "We gotta get out before the 'real' Kaiba shows up!"

"The real Kaiba?" VWKaiba asked.

SMKaiba shrugged, "Maybe he finally figured out none of us belong here."

OSeto whirled, and grabbed VWKaiba by the collar. "Don't you get it, yet?? In this world the real Kaiba is Yugi's Grampa!!!"

Both looked at him like he had to be the stupidest person in the world. VWKaiba muttered, "Oooookay."

"No...he's definitely not us." SMKaiba said, shaking his head.

"But, LOOK!!" he said, pointing at the statue. "Don't you see?? Grampa had a Blue Eyes White Dragon card. The Blue Eyes was his treasure! Well...at least in 'my' world. But, Kaiba stole it from him and hid it away forever! It's no wonder this world got created! Obviously the dark side of Grampa got so pissed off, that another dimension was made with him being Kaiba! He's now seeking revenge against Joey! We gotta warn Yugi about his Grampa!!"

"What the hell have you been smoking?" VWKaiba snapped.

SMKaiba grabbed him away, and began to drag him back, muttering, "Fine. You can tell Yugi all about it when we get back to him."

"But, then maybe Yugi's a Kaiba!" OSeto thought out loud, then rethought that quick. "Naw...that can't be. He don't act like a Kaiba. Actually, you guys act a lot like Kaiba does." he nodded. "And if Grampa's Kaiba, then that don't really explain why they keep saying I'm Kaiba, neither."

"Hmph...it looks like we actually agree on something." VWKaiba muttered.

"Don't worry about it." SMKaiba said. "You're not Kaiba."

"But, no one else really likes Blue Eyes that much that I know of, except Grampa. Well, I do...but..." Once again, OSeto started to have a thought pop into his head. Everyone called him Kaiba. He liked Blue Eyes. There were statues of that everywhere. These guys kind of looked sort of like him...maybe him after being cleaned up and obtain tons of money. And they also acted like Kaiba.

As they continued down the hallway, OSeto looked at a mirror that hung on the wall, looking at himself and comparing to these strangers. 'No...that can't be true!' he thought.

Finally, the 'actual' reality began to sink in. Could he really be Kaiba in this world???

Again, OSeto screamed and flailed...the surprise action got himself released from SMKaiba's grip. Both looked down at him in annoyance, as he backed away from them in fear.

OSeto then shook his trembling finger towards them, spouting, "I dunno who you guys are, but you aint me...ya got that?"

"I thought we just covered that part." SMKaiba said, crossing in arms.

VWKaiba snapped, "We don't have time for this." and grabbed OSeto by the shirt, dragging him forcefully down the hall. "Let's go."

"Get yer stinking hands off of me!!" OSeto cried. Tried as he might, he could not succeed in getting out of VWKaiba's vice-like grip.

But then to VWKaiba's surprise, the OSeto pulled forward, escaping out of his own shirt to get away.

VWKaiba blinked, not expecting the move, and surprisingly SMKaiba just laughed about it.

"Ha! I got away!" OSeto said victoriously. But then he noticed both the Kaiba's were smirking back at him.

"Then go ahead...run away." VWKaiba sneered. He understood quickly the reason SMKaiba showed no real concern. They were in the hallway that went straight to where OSeto needed to go. The only other way out was through them.

OSeto paused, not expecting them to tell him to run. His mind said run, yet some small part in his pea brain had a feeling he shouldn't go this way.

"So, what are you waiting for?" VWKaiba asked impatiently. "Move!"

He was right...it was a trap. And just to point out the fact, SMKaiba was also getting impatient, and pushed him forward, making him fall on his ass...which seemed to amuse both Kaiba's.

They were so mean and cruel...how could they be him, at all?? OSeto cried out in frustration, "How can you act this way! You act like, like...Kaiba!"

"Thank you." SMKaiba smiled coldly.

"That aint suppose ta be a compliment!!" OSeto snapped.

Having enough, VWKaiba grabbed him by the wrist and twisted, forcing him to his knees as he cried out in pain. "Listen, you loser...why anyone would think you could possibly be some version of us is beyond me. But whatever you are, you're going back to where you came, whether you like it or not. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it! Leggo!!" OSeto whined.

VWKaiba tossed him away, then grumbled, "And get a haircut when you get back...you look like an idiot."

"Play nice...he is our guest." SMKaiba muttered with a cocky smirk.

"You should talk." VWKaiba muttered. "By the way...why did you follow in the first place? Don't you think I could handle taking care of this nobody, myself? Just cause #1 ordered us both to go doesn't mean we both had to come."

"Well...this loser 'is' supposed to be one of us. Remember?" SMKaiba asked.

VWKaiba glared and crossed his arms, then looked coldly down at OSeto. The fool was just gawking up at them, eyes wide and looking almost...fearful. VWKaiba then glared back up at SMKaiba, stating, "That is 'not' one of us..."

"Let's find out, then." SMKaiba smirked. Before OSeto could do anything, he was harshly grabbed again by the other one and shoved against the wall, being looked over like he was some lab animal.

"Hey, leave me alone!" OSeto cried out, as he started to flail his hands, yet elbows bent in as if he was afraid of making any kind of contact.

Both Kaiba's looked at him, like he had just grown a second head. VWKaiba finally swatted them away, snapping, "Stop doing that! You make yourself look like a nerd!"

OSeto whimpered, as SMKaiba moved his hand to his face, shoving his hair back to get a good look at the guy's eyes and features. "You know...as much as I hate to say it, I think Yugi's right. Sadly this thing is one of us..."

"Bullshit!" VWKaiba snapped. "No matter what the circumstances were, we'd never be like...this thing! He doesn't even have the brain capacity of us! Unless someone drugged him with stupid pills, I don't see it being possible."

"Jerks! I am not you!" OSeto cried out.

SMKaiba let him go and smirked at VWKaiba. "Looks like the two of you agree on something..."

VWKaiba scowled at that and pushed the guy again, snapping, "Get moving!" He then threw the shirt at him. "And put this back on. You're making us sick just looking at you."

"Geez, you'd think I was in prison or something..." OSeto grumbled.

As they headed back, SMKaiba asked the other, "So...what's your opinion on the story Mokuba told us?"

"What story?" OSeto asked.

VWKaiba snapped, "Shut up!" He then looked to SMKaiba, muttering, "You mean about this Aiko lady saving Mokuba?"

"Not only that, but her creating this item that could magically send one of us to different dimensions." SMKaiba stated.

He answered, "It sounds ludicrous..."

SMKaiba looked over, since the comment didn't sound complete. "...but?"

A long silence hung there for a moment and at first VWKaiba didn't answer at all, eyes forward, arms crossed. He then glanced around and finally stopped OSeto from walking for a moment with his hand, so they didn't go into the room yet. OSeto made a choking sound for a second from it, but was ignored.

VWKaiba finally looked over at SMKaiba, saying, "Let's for once be honest with each other. As much as we all deny our belief in magic...we've all seen it." VWKaiba looked away, adding, "As easy as it is to deny it to everyone else, it seems rather pointless to deny it to myself. There's no sense in trying to fool each other. From everything I've seen, I'd have to believe the possibility. And besides... it's Mokuba that said it, after all."

"He doesn't act like the Mokuba 'I' know!" OSeto threw out at them.

"SHUT UP!!" they both blurted at him.

SMKaiba smirked, saying, "Hmph...it would be interesting to see if I could make something that could actually do that. Could you imagine...making a device that could splice into different dimensions? Just think about the possibilities of what we could learn in these other places..."

VWKaiba smirked back, adding, "I'd have to agree with you. After all, I came up with the idea of making the duel monsters virtual in the first place, after that first card game with Yugi...when he mysteriously made the cards come to life. I figured, if he could do it...so can I."

SMKaiba gave him a blank look for a long moment, before answering, "We must have different histories...that never happened to me."

"Hmph..." VWKaiba muttered, wondering what the difference in their history was, but not enough to bother asking. His hand suddenly shot out, grabbing OSeto that was trying to get away again.

"Ow! Ow! Leggo of me, ya jerk!!" he blurted out.

VWKaiba practically tossed him into the room, snapping, "Get in there!" They graciously walked in after tossing OSeto into the room.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As much as Joey hated going back into that room with all those Kaiba's, he didn't have a choice. He ran out of the room so fast that like OSeto...he too got lost. Fortunately for him, he happened to see VWKaiba and SMKaiba tossing OSeto around like a rag doll. Though he kept his distance, he followed them inside the room and quickly moved next to Yugi and the others.

"Hey man, I thought you were leaving." Tristan said.

"What, and leave all my friends behind? I'd never do that." Joey said, flashing his famous smile.

Tristan smiled back. "You got lost, didn't you?"

Joey pouted, and said, "Yeah."

Yugi snickered at that. Good old Joey.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Now that everyone was accounted for in their correct bodies, and everyone but OSeto and DTKaiba had all said their good-byes and get-well soon to Mokuba, it was time to see about getting everyone home. OSeto didn't say anything cause well… he was freaked out by all of this. As for DTKaiba, he was fortunately not yet awake.

Everyone started to gather and prepare. As they did, VWKaiba opened up his laptop, logging onto Kaiba Corp's network, and getting in touch with both the other Kaiba's inside the system. Since he was the one that assisted at least one of them back into the system, he decided he would be the one to keep them updated on what was going on, until they were finally gone.

"All right, now that everyone's where they should be, it's time to start." Yami said.

"So, what's your plan?" Tea asked.

"From what I've observed, every Kaiba here has a Mokuba of their own they want to get back to. I believe that this world's Mokuba can connect to their Mokuba's, thus enabling them to return to their world."

"So, how is that supposed to work?" Tristan asked.

"First, I'm going to need Mokuba's help for this matter." Yami said looking at JKaiba, who had sat down next to Mokuba. He fell asleep as JKaiba was holding him, MKaiba had sat down on JKaiba's other side and the two waited for Yami to begin.

"Are you certain about this, Yugi? The kid's been through enough today, already." SMKaiba said.

"I agree with #2. If we don't allow him to rest, he wont get better." VWKaiba said.

"I understand. But, when I tried once to send another Kaiba home, all of you appeared. We have to do this right, otherwise we may end up with even more Kaiba's...and nobody wants that." Yami said.

"Yeah, you can say that again!" Joey suddenly blurted, causing all the Kaiba's to look over at him. Joey shut up quick.

"Can this harm Mokuba in any way?" MEKaiba asked.

Yami shook his head. "This should put him in no danger. He is not the one being sent...you are the ones going. I simply need him as a grounding to help find everyone's proper dimension."

JKaiba sighed. "Fine. But, you better be right, Yugi. If you're wrong, I'll make sure you regret it."

The others nodded in agreement to both letting Yami do this, as well as the threat.

Then JKaiba looked down at Mokuba and muttered, "It's just a pity I won't have the chance to meet the real brother of this Mokuba..."

"And why's that, Seto?" MKaiba asked.

"For being a version of me, he hardly seems responsible. He shacks up with some woman who sounds like another crazy woman like Ishizu, brainwashes Mokuba into thinking her so-called magic cured him, and then takes off leaving him alone sick with the woman, who doesn't even bother to stick around!" JKaiba rants.

"Er...not to interrupt, but...who's Ishizu?" Yami asked.

"Maybe Mokuba's telling the truth about the woman, Seto." MKaiba said.

"I never accused you of lying." JKaiba corrected. "And if you really believe that, then I think you need to stop hanging around Yugi and his friends, listening to their talk about magic...or they're going to start poisoning your mind."

"Hey, they're my friends too, you know!" Joey snapped at him, finally starting to get which Kaiba was the one that kept chasing him, and trying to use it against him for a change.

JKaiba gave him a smirk, and muttered, "I know." only pissing Joey off more. He then turned and proceeded to wake him up. "Mokuba, come on kiddo... you have to get up, I'm sorry."

Mokuba sat up rubbing his eyes. As he did, Yami said to him, "Mokuba, I have a plan to get everyone home. I need you to take a hold of my puzzle and concentrate on each Kaiba one at a time to try to get them home."

Mokuba yawned and walked over to Yami. "Okay, Yugi. But, are you sure this will work?"

"It's all we got. I tried by myself all ready once and failed. I believe you can do it, since each one has a Mokuba of their own to return to... it's very possible that they may be the key. Are you ready? Do you think you can handle it?"

As Yami asked this, they suddenly heard DTKaiba's voice, snap, "How 'dare' you leave me like this! I will make you all pay!!" Yes...DTKaiba finally woke up.

Mokuba nodded and quickly grasped the puzzle tightly. He concentrated on getting DTKaiba home first!

JKaiba was glad he quietly switched his deck back with his original cards before he was sent back...

DTKaiba suddenly started to glow and all went black. When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see he was in his game Death T5, facing off against Yugi. He was confused at first, not understanding what just happened or how he got here. But that only lasted a minute as he faced off against Yugi. He laughed like a maniac, prepared to show Yugi the ultimate game of death!

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba then concentrated on Kaiba2, who was originally Philmore.

Kaiba2's consciousness was thrusted back into the computer he originally came from and sensed how much more he was in control of, once again. Suddenly sensing 'his' brother inside the computer, he appeared before him in Virtual World.

"Mokuba, what are you doing in here?"

"I couldn't find you Seto. I was worried! I called but you never appeared, I checked all the holographic imagers to be sure they were working, then checked the system and you were still no where to be found. So, I came in here to look for you that way. That other Kaiba left and then you disappeared soon after... it scared me Seto. I didn't want to lose you." Mokuba said hugging him.

Kaiba hugged back, trying his best to remember what it felt like to hold him. "I'm sorry... it's a long story."

Mokuba then stood up and looked at him, suspiciously. He didn't know what, but there was something he was hiding.

"Okay," Mokuba said sitting down. "Let's hear it."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the real world, VWKaiba was on his laptop letting KaibaS1 know they were preparing to sent MKaiba back.

MKaiba was now the next one for Mokuba to concentrate on. As he did, MKaiba began to glow, and VWKaiba quickly allowed KaibaS1 to know this. But as he did, KaibaS1 frantically sent back a message to him, stating, "Wait!"

Seeing the message, VWKaiba suddenly blurted in response to that, "Hold on! Something's wrong..."

Mokuba stopped and everyone looked over at VWKaiba, sitting at his laptop.

"What's wrong, Seto?" MKaiba asked.

VWKaiba then muttered, "Of course." after reading the next message off the computer. He turned, saying, "Yugi...you said the key to getting us home, was by this Mokuba contacting 'our' Mokuba...correct?"

"Uh, so what's your point?" Joey asked.

JKaiba suddenly realized the problem! "The problem is the Kaiba that is stuck in the computer still has 'his' Mokuba here." Pointing to MKaiba. "So if that's the key...how can this work? If Mokuba concentrates on this other computer Kaiba and they focus on Mokuba, then the computer system might cause them to merge into one body, instead."

"I see. Yes, you're right... that is a problem." Yami said, then thought for a moment before looking up at MKaiba. "Perhaps if you were to help Mokuba concentrate. Then while Mokuba concentrates on the two of you to get home, the two of you concentrate on getting back to your world."

"Are you certain Yugi?" MKaiba asked.

The look in Yami's eyes indicated his uncertainty, as he answered, "I'm afraid it's the best I can think of."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring." JKaiba muttered, not liking Yami's answer." But MKaiba put a hand on JKaiba and said, "It's okay, Seto. I'll be fine."

JKaiba nodded in response to MKaiba's comment, accepting this other Mokuba's words to trust Yami.

MKaiba then put his hands on top of Mokuba's that were on the puzzle. They gripped it tightly. As they did, a few of the other Kaiba's glared over at Yugi, as if a silent warning that he better not screw it up... or else.

KaibaS1, MKaiba, and Mokuba all started to concentrate hard. Soon both the computer Kaiba and then MKaiba disappeared.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MKaiba woke up and looked around, realizing he was back in his world. He immediately ran to the virtual pod and climbed in to go look for his brother, not knowing if he made it back or not.

"Seto, Seto?" MKaiba called fearing maybe he didn't make it back.

Suddenly KaibaS1 appeared in front of him. "What are you doing in here?"

Mokuba suddenly hugged him much to KaibaS1's surprise. But he hugged back not caring at the moment why he was here, while trying to convince himself that everything that just took place was just a computer glitch. For if, he believed it was real, then he'd be forced to face the reality of everything he had just lost. Even now, holding Mokuba and not really holding or feeling him was like torture after what he had. But he wouldn't tell Mokuba...he refused to hurt him that way. His brother had been through enough.

"I'm so sorry Seto."

"For what?"

"After everything that had happened." He let go of him and turned away. "I know you told me it's okay that I haven't given much time with you...but that's not true. It's not okay, at all. You're my brother and I...I've been treating you like nothing more than another one of my video games!" Tears came into Mokuba's eyes, as he painfully admitted that.

KaibaS1 approached him, pulling him close. "Shh…it's all right. I told you before, I wanted you to live your own life, not be dependent on me...I meant it."

"I don't care." Mokuba said. "I wont do it again...I wont neglect you like that ever - I promise, big brother! I'll visit with you more often. I forgot how very lonely it probably is in here for you."

"Stop it!" Kaiba snapped. It was equally painful to hear this from his brother. He desperately wanted more time with Mokuba, to see him more. He had even confessed that to Joey in this world. But...he couldn't allow it. This was his sacrifice, so Mokuba could live his own life. If Mokuba came to visit him more, especially out of guilt, he might forget to live his own life in the real world. That wasn't right. Then everything he had sacrificed would be meaningless. He looked away, avoiding his gaze with his brother. "I forbid you to do this..." Then with great effort, Kaiba pushed Mokuba away, snapping, "I don't want you here. Now, get out!"

Mokuba glared up at his brother. Kaiba might fool everyone else with his attitude, but he could never fool his little brother. Mokuba knew he didn't mean anything he was saying. But Kaiba wouldn't give in, either. "Fine." Mokuba answered just as harshly. "But don't think this is over. I don't know how, but I'm going to find a way to fix this family. You saved me Seto, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a life, too. I'm going to find a way to make you better...one way or another."

Kaiba wasn't sure what to say, as Mokuba gave him one last hug. He then turned to leave without another word. It concerned Kaiba as he watched his brother go. Did this experience result in something better for them or worst? Since what happened, Mokuba has been acting even more like Kaiba used to be.

'This is my fault.' he thought. Somehow, he had to find a way to fix this. But, stuck in this computer...how could he help?

And sadly...A strong part of himself actually hoped for what Mokuba said would come true. But, he had learned long ago not to give into hope...because they never happen. With a computerized sigh, he dispersed his form to catch up on any work that was missed while he was gone.

And as he did, Mokuba came back into his world, and immediately got to work on ideas how to somehow bring his brother out into the real world. "I'm gonna help you, Seto." Mokuba said out loud. "This time, it's my turn to save you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After MKaiba and KaibaS1 disappeared, Mokuba collapsed. It took too much out of him that time to do two at once.

The other Kaiba's rushed over to him, JKaiba reaching him first.

"Is he all right?" SMKaiba asked.

JKaiba looked up with death in his eyes at Yami, as he snapped, "You said this wouldn't hurt him!"

"I don't understand...it shouldn't." Yami said, looking surprised.

"Seto...it's okay. I'm fine." Mokuba said weakly, squeezing his hand. "I'm just a little tired from it, that's all."

"Tired?" VWKaiba asked him.

'_Yami...by having Mokuba direct the other Kaiba's home, this magic must drain him slightly.' _Yugi said in his mind.

"Of course." Yami said out loud, causing everyone to turn towards him. "And because we sent two home instead of one, the combination must have drained him much more than the other Kaiba's that were sent."

"It's draining him? You didn't say anything about this." MEKaiba stated.

"I honestly didn't realize it would do that. But, the draining is very minor. It only affected him the way it did now, because he was trying to send a multiple amount. Shadow Magic can weaken people who are not accustom to using it." Yami explained.

"If Mokuba gets worst because of this, Yugi...I will never forgive you." JKaiba snapped.

Yami nodded, "It shouldn't affect his sickness."

"But, you can't guarantee that." JKaiba argued.

VWKaiba then replied, "We'll stop for now...he's too weak to do anymore."

Mokuba then weakly muttered, "No, no I…I can handle it."

"Forget it." JKaiba ordered gruffly. "We'll pick it up tomorrow and do the rest then."

"But...aint you guys anxious to get home??" Joey asked.

From that comment, all the Kaiba's looked at Joey and just glared at him...including JKaiba.

"Don't be stupid." JKaiba snapped.

This caused VWKaiba to smirk, saying, "Maybe you forget who you're talking to. I don't think he can help it. It comes naturally for dogs..."

This caused Joey to automatically begin to growl at them again. But before he could get anything out, JKaiba explained, "There's no way we're going to take a chance at getting home at Mokuba's expense...even if he's not from our world."

Joey shut up, after that was said.

Afterwards, SMKaiba began to pace, crying out, "I knew this was a mistake to begin with. He's too sick to do this! He needs more rest!"

Yami knew there was no way any of the Kaiba's was going to allow any further, and lowered his head in concern. "I understand. But there's a problem if we don't continue now."

"What do you mean, a problem? What kind of problem??" JKaiba demanded.

Yami looked back up at him, explaining, "When I originally sent the first Seto home, you all appeared just around the same time. If you don't go back around the same general timeline, this delay might only make matters worst. We 'have' to do this now!"

JKaiba began to stand and was about to have a verbal face-off with his opponent. Fortunately, he had Mokuba in his arms and was forced to stay seated. But that didn't stop the others.

VWKaiba was the first to jump into Yami's face, doing exactly what was on all the other Kaiba's minds. "Listen to me, Yugi...there is no way any of us is going to let you endanger our brother's safety."

"Why didn't you tell us this, in the first place?" SMKaiba also snapped at Yami.

Yami looked over to SMKaiba, saying, "I'm sorry...I didn't think it would cause such a strain on the boy."

"You mean, you didn't think!" MEKaiba snapped, coldly.

"I don't care what the possible consequences are to us...we're not doing this anymore until Mokuba is better." JKaiba snapped, being equally as stubborn.

"Stop it!" Mokuba suddenly called out, quieting them all down. As lousy as Mokuba felt, he knew he couldn't let this continue, or this could cause an even greater problem. Mokuba shakily stood up from JKaiba grasp, adding, "I-it's all right. I can handle it."

"No, Mokuba...you're not doing this." JKaiba argued.

Mokuba looked up at JKaiba, saying, "Please, Seto...I have to do this. I want my brother back home."

"A brother that abandons you and leaves you alone sick is hardly deserving your loyalty." JKaiba snapped.

"You have plenty of us here now, anyway. You don't need him." SMKaiba added.

Mokuba replied to them, "Any Seto here who feels he hasn't somehow betrayed me, can be the first to pick up a stone at my real brother."

VWKaiba smirked, stating, "Quoting the bible, now?"

"Yeah, but it works...doesn't it?" Mokuba smiled back.

And he was right. Even JKaiba, as much as he felt the Kaiba from this world had done wrong by leaving him behind, could not compare judgment. Every Kaiba felt they had somehow wronged their brother, even if they didn't feel the same.

"He doesn't deserve this, either way. And you're too weak." JKaiba muttered.

Yet, Mokuba could all ready feel the Kaiba's wavering. As long as he made himself at least 'look' stronger than he was, he could still pull this off.

"I'm strong enough to stand, aren't I?" Mokuba told him. "I'll be okay, Seto...I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." JKaiba said.

With a big smile, and trying to keep himself looking stronger than he felt, Mokuba replied, "I wont."

JKaiba and the others still didn't like it. But they also didn't get the chance to protest anymore, as Mokuba walked over, grabbing the puzzle, and began to concentrate again.


	44. C44 Getting Home II

_C44 Getting Home II_

A/N: There are some Mokuba x Seto and Joey x Kaiba scenes in this chapter.

x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was GSeto's time to leave, and everyone knew and turned towards him.

If he wanted to stay, he could try and screw it up now by interfering with Mokuba. But during his time here, he had made a decision...he was ready to go back and start his fight anew to free his brother.

He looked to all the other Kaiba's, who one way or another had succeeded in protecting their Mokuba's. 'It's now my turn to win.' he thought, and stepped forward, accepting his fate.

The next moment he knew, GSeto was no longer surrounded by other older versions of himself. At first, he didn't recognize where he was, after getting used to the other world. But as he looked around at the room, it only took an extra moment to identify it as his room.

'I'm home.' he thought, though home was never a pleasant thing to him. The fear was all ready welling back up in him, and he had no idea how he was going to fight against both Gozaburo and Noah at the same time. No matter how strong his determination, it still seemed so hopeless.

He approached his desk to have a seat, when he suddenly noticed something different. There all by itself was a childish-looking hand-drawn picture of a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

'Mokuba?' he thought, wondering how his brother could have possibly gotten this picture to him through Gozaburo and Noah, stuck in foster care. He then smiled down at it, deciding...it didn't matter. A part of his brother was here with him, and would give him the strength to fight for him.

"Thank you." he said to no one in particular, and tucked it away to keep it safe.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and he turned fearful of what was coming. But keeping strong, with his head held high, he insisted he would not cower anymore. He approached and opened the door to see one of the rich tutors that normally taught things to Noah.

'What is he doing here?' GSeto wondered, expecting to see Noah or one of the guards here to drag him away to play another 'game' with Noah.

"As per the deal with Gozaburo, you will be required to learn as high as the class level of Noah. Of course, if you cannot keep up with the work given to you, then Gozaburo will not find you worthy of this...test." the person said, snubbing his nose at him.

"Deal?" GSeto asked, blankly.

"Your challenge to him, Seto..." the tutor replied. "You had the audacity to challenge Noah's position, and told Gozaburo that you were more worthy of being the future CEO." At that, the tutor gave a chuckle. "Which is highly preposterous. But soon enough, you will prove how ridiculous that is when Noah defeats you in every way possible."

GSeto's eyes widened like saucers. 'I am in a competition to take over as the future controller of Kaiba Corp??' he thought. 'And Gozaburo approved of this?' GSeto couldn't understand it. Noah was his son. How could any man choose another over their own kid. Perhaps Gozaburo was just playing some game with him to taunt him. But, he didn't care. This offered GSeto a chance to free his brother, no matter how slim the chance...and was more than ready to jump at the opportunity.

He stepped forward, and nodded, saying, "Do your worst...I am ready."

"Hmph." the tutor spat, snubbing his nose once again. "Then follow me. You shall see soon enough, it will 'not' be easy..."

GSeto followed, heading down the course to his future destiny as the new CEO of Kaiba Corp.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

SMKaiba was next, as the aura of magic engulfed him, creating a faint aura, before he finally disappeared.

It came over SMKaiba like a wave of dizziness. He closed eyes, touching the bridge of his nose, and shaking it off. When he opened them back up, it was because he was being shaken...and he was lying down in bed in his pajamas.

"Come on, Seto...wake up."

SMKaiba turned and faced...Mokuba. It was his Mokuba, and he instantly reached over and touched his forehead. 'It must have been a dream. All of it was a dream.'

Mokuba took his brother's hand. "Seto are you okay?"

"I'm fine. How about you?"

"I'm okay, Seto. But, remember...you promised we could go to dinner. Don't forget, Dad's working late tonight. And besides...we should be celebrating, anyway."

"Why should we be celebrating? I still have that stock holders meeting in the morning."

"No you don't!" Mokuba giggled. "That was today! The other Seto that was here took care of it, and even got enough investors to get Gozaburo's name off the stockholders list!"

Other Seto?? "What are you talking about?"

"Take me to dinner and I promise to explain."

SMKaiba nodded, agreeing to take him out to dinner.

'It was just a dream, wasn't it?' SMKaiba now began to wonder. 'Could it have possibly been real?'

SMKaiba didn't believe in magic. But the next hour over the course of dinner, after Mokuba explained what had happened, his beliefs were about to take a toll.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

MEKaiba now opened his eyes, also back in his own world. There, he immediately felt Mokuba bouncing on the bed. Seeing his own brother again, he reached out to touch him but hesitated...immediately fearing any minute there was going to be other versions of him coming in and trying to kill him for daring to get near Mokuba. But his brother didn't seem to notice the hesitation and immediately leaped on him.

MEKaiba smiled, relieved to feel his little brother in his arms again. No one came in...they seemed to be all alone. "I see you're feeling better." he sighed, trying to push the thoughts of guilt out of his mind and happy to see him healthy again, also beginning to assume maybe it was just a bad dream.

Mokuba looked at him confused. "What are you talking about, Seto? I'm not sick."

MEKaiba gave a chuckle, saying, "You're right...you're not. I'm just a bit confused from that dream I had last night." He shook his head, saying, "It just all seemed so real."

"Dream? What did you dream about, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

MEKaiba shook his head, replied, "Actually, it was more like a nightmare. There were multiple versions of me fighting this other version of me. You were there, but for some reason...you weren't the same. You belonged to one of them, and I couldn't touch or get near you." He laid back and sighed. "It doesn't matter...it was just a stupid dream."

Mokuba wondered if maybe he ended up in the same world the other Seto came from... and from what he was saying, it sounded like he wasn't the only one. That other Seto 'did' say he was traveling all various worlds. He wanted to ask, but right now he felt his brother needed him more. He'd also wanted to talk to him about all the things the other Seto made him promise to discuss later. Plus Seto could tell him his adventure and he could tell about the other Seto. But for now, he leaned over and kissed him.

MEKaiba was quite willing at first. After everything that had happened, it was so good to feel his brother so close to him again. But, as Mokuba stuck his tongue out to lick his brother's lips begging to be granted access, memories of the other world started to surface. He couldn't help but hesitate after the way JKaiba glared at him and the guilt he felt from it.

Mokuba pulled back and looked at his brother, confused.

"Seto, is something wrong?" Mokuba asked, fearing at first that maybe this wasn't his real brother, either.

"What? No, I…I don't think we should continue with this anymore, Mokuba." MEKaiba said, though expecting an argument resulting in this. After all, this wasn't the first time he had said this to his brother.

It was a harsh circle he got himself involved in. He enjoyed this kind of company with his brother, but inside he still believed it was wrong. So, if he got too close to Mokuba, he felt guilty...but if he pulled away, he would hurt Mokuba and still feel guilty. Plus, he would also feel pain from resisting, because inside he truly wanted this.

Mokuba was upset and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Fine...between you and the other Seto that was here, I see its clear I'm the only mature one here! He was saying the same things. He also didn't believe we could love each other. But if all you're ever going to do Seto is argue against us doing something we both want, then maybe we shouldn't!"

"I'm sorry." MEKaiba instinctually whispered and turned away, all ready expecting the guilt that was going to come from what he said. He promised not to do this again, and yet...here he was in the same vicious circle. But then Mokuba's words suddenly registered in his head. His eyes became wide and he whirled back, looking at his Mokuba. "Wait a minute...what do you mean the 'other' Seto??"

"That wasn't a dream, Seto...it was real. There was another Seto that was here, too. He said he was traveling all over the place to find this Noah and kick his butt for hurting me. He was trying to tell me that what we did was wrong, too...but he didn't understand. He didn't feel the same way that you or I do. That one didn't have those feelings...we're different from all of them. Don't you see that?" Mokuba asked.

MEKaiba blinked. 'Then, that was...real??'

Not waiting for his brother to come up with something else, Mokuba leaned over and kissed him. Then he pulled away and said, "Seto... can you look me in the eye and honestly tell me you have no feelings for me? That you don't want this as much as I do?"

Seto wanted to deny it. But again...this argument wasn't the first time. There was no way he would be able to lie to Mokuba, and deny his feelings. All he could do was close his eyes and look away, finally whispering out, "You know this has nothing to do with how I feel..."

Mokuba crossed his arms angrily, saying, "Well how about how I feel? We both feel the same way, and it only hurts us both when you do this. You know this Seto...that's why you agreed not to do this again."

Kaiba began to tremble from the pain and inner turmoil he felt, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. Shaking his head, he muttered, "I know what I said. But you weren't there. The looks on their faces, the suspicion in their eyes. If I told them...any of them, they probably would have killed me for what I've done." Kaiba then gave a slight chuckle that didn't sound all that sane, as he added, "...I probably would have deserved it, too..."

"That's not fair! The Mokuba's from those worlds don't feel the same as I do, just like the Seto's of those worlds didn't feel the same. Don't you dare compare yourself to them...it's not the same thing! Just because they're like us, doesn't mean they are us!" When Kaiba didn't answer, Mokuba muttered, "Fine...I give up."

Mokuba then turned away from his brother, got up and began to head to the door looking very angry.

As he did, MEKaiba finally opened his eyes, realizing Mokuba's movements. As much as he feared he might be hurting his brother, he didn't want him angry with him, either. And Mokuba's anger could be pretty bad. If he let him leave the room like that, they may not talk again for days. Before Mokuba could leave, Kaiba finally turned and called, "Mokuba, wait!"

His brother stopped, and glanced back to see MEKaiba get up, and meet him where he stood. Touching him gently by the shoulder, he led him back to the bed in some attempt to resolve this. When Mokuba was comfortable and settled in, Kaiba placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Mokuba...I'm sorry. You know I'm not trying to hurt you. I only want what's best for you."

MEKaiba continued to talk, and as he did, his hand unconsciously moved to Mokuba's hair, twirling small circles as he played with it. "I know what we agreed. But, the fact remains that it's wrong, both morally and legally."

MEKaiba then moved up, smelling a bit of his hair, as he talked...it smelled so good. "There are reasons they have these laws down, and at your age especially...the harm they could do to both of us if anyone ever found out. I...I couldn't bare to lose you."

By this time, Mokuba had moved his head in line with his brother, and began to kiss him. MEKaiba could no longer resist and began to kiss back. Before he knew it, he was on his back with Mokuba on top of him, both of them attacking each other, grabbing and kissing whatever they could.

It didn't take long before everything MEKaiba had just said flew from his head and was quickly lost in Mokuba's embrace. Mokuba had now begun to peal off his clothes, and things were going quite well for them both, when once again MEKaiba froze. The image of JKaiba's face once again formed in his head with that menacing glare, ordering him away from Mokuba.

Sensing his brother freezing up again, Mokuba asked, "Seto?"

As Mokuba's voice asked him, MEKaiba looked over, feeling the conflict between guilt and yearning for his brother, as well as the pain he would cause his brother to push him away. It was an inner turmoil, fighting for dominance over which thought would win out. Finally in anger, he grabbed Mokuba harshly with both hands and shoved him down hard in the bed. 'Mokuba is 'mine' and I will take him if I want him...he's my brother, it's my right!' he finally reasoned within himself.

He crushed his lips down hard against his brother, then sucked on his neck hard, purposely marking him as a sort of reminder to them both of this decision Kaiba had come to...though making sure it was behind his thick hair, where it wasn't apparent to others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The two now lie in bed, after he had made love to Mokuba yet again. Mokuba turned to look at his brother, seeing him content and asleep...and smiled. His older brother was a lot more rough with him today, but he understood...MEKaiba had an inner battle to fight and win, so Mokuba didn't complain.

As it sat, Mokuba had his own conflict to deal with, as well. He made a promise with the other Seto...he was supposed to talk to this one about their relationship. Mokuba honestly didn't want to, fearful if he told his brother what the other had said, it would only add to the tension of their relationship. But he had to...he promised.

But as Mokuba thought about it, a smile came to his face...maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe they could actually talk more about what they were doing this time. Mokuba could possibly get his brother to open up more about what happened wherever he went. And perhaps...instead of harming what they had, it would instead only strengthen it and finally prove to his brother that what they had was real, and not wrong or twisted at all.

...at least one could only hope.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

VWKaiba sensed he was the next to go, crying out a final good-bye to the Mokuba in this world.

The next thing he knew, he was beginning to wake up, after hearing two familiar voices.

"Is he still breathing?"

"Of course he is, Noah! That's a stupid question."

VWKaiba opened his eyes, hearing the voices of both Mokuba and Noah.

He looked around and relaxed...pleased to know that everything was back to normal. Well...that is, if you call raising your little brother and having to deal with a hologram of your dead half brother as 'normal'.

He gave a hint of a smile up at his brother, saying, "Hey, kiddo..." then stood and looked around.

"So, are you still that other Seto...or are you 'our' Seto?" Noah asked him.

VWKaiba turned, looking over at the holographic form. He had a feeling it was all real. After all, he doesn't normally just collapse and have a dream for no reason at all. The one they never met...the one wandering the various dimensions on this quest...he was here. But, if he was here, did that mean he was in all the other dimensions that those other Kaiba's came from.

"Then he must be the reason we ended up there." VWKaiba reasoned, muttering to himself.

"What do you mean, Seto?" Mokuba asked him.

"It's nothing." he answered. "Yes...I'm me." he added, turning to them both. "What happened while I was gone? What did this other one do?"

"Be a total jerk." Noah said, looking away.

Mokuba giggled, "He didn't like Noah, very much. He said his mission was to defeat some Noah for doing bad things to me in some other world."

"That's not fair!" Noah snapped. "He has no reason to take that out on me. I'm not doing anything wrong!"

Mokuba smiled, saying, "You know what Seto always says to that. Life isn't fair..."

"Tell me about it..." Noah muttered.

Noah's last words were a reminder of what he had heard in that other world. In some other universe, Kaiba shared the fate that Noah was going through. He had seen the near insanity it was causing to even them. A computer world that was so empty and alone...and Noah was living this every moment of his existence. No one deserved that...not even him. And if Mokuba knew, he too would suffer knowing the extent of pain Noah constantly endured.

Mokuba continued, saying, "Nothing really much happened. Seto told us some of his adventures a little. I told him I'd like to go on an adventure like that sometime...but that didn't seem to make him very happy. He didn't stay for very long. He played with that weird cube thing, and suddenly he collapsed and you were here again."

"Good riddance to him." Noah said. He then looked over at VWKaiba, saying, "But it's good to see you here again, Seto. You're so much nicer than that other one."

"It's hard to believe anyone could compare me as nice." VWKaiba smirked. He then turned to Mokuba, saying, "Why don't we get out of here for awhile and get something to eat. I could use a break."

"That sounds great!" Mokuba smiled, as Noah hid the downtrodden look he felt of having to be alone for a while. "And you can tell me all about where you went while we're out!" Those words didn't help any, as Noah looked away, wanting to be a part of that, too.

VWKaiba looked over at Noah, knowing...as he added, "I'll talk about that when we get back. Speaking of which, I haven't had the chance to upgrade your system lately, Noah."

"Upgrade?" Noah asked, surprised at VWKaiba's words. "But I can all ready go just about anywhere at Kaiba Corp. What more can you do?"

"Yeah, Seto...you never told me this." Mokuba said.

Mokuba was right, VWKaiba never said anything more about an upgrade. From all that could be seen, it didn't look like anything more could be done for Noah. He had entrusted Noah enough to finally hook him into the system, allowing Noah's holographic form to show up all over in either home in Japan or the US, in either Kaiba Land location in both countries, or the arcade section or the Dome in Domino city. Anytime a new extension came to their company, Noah was added into it. But there were no new facilities going up, and Noah could only be placed in areas that belong to them.

VWKaiba stated, "It has to do with the new upgraded Duel Disk system I'm creating." He never explained the idea of his new duel disk, nor the new idea that would help Noah. But even now he was still hesitant to trust Noah to expand further. This could cause even greater risk to Kaiba Corp if Noah can't be trusted...or greater advantages if he could. With the new Duel Disk system, he was originally thinking of not trusting Noah, and keeping him separate from this system. But, VWKaiba was now finally willing to take that chance and trust him.

"What's it do?" Noah asked.

VWKaiba turned to him, saying, "The new systems are no longer going to be independent for every duel disk that purchased. A master computer is going to control them all. They will simply be ping systems that the computer will download directly to them, based on the game play of that Duel disk."

"But...we all ready have a master computer for the Duel Disks, Seto." Mokuba said, not understanding.

He smirked, saying, "We have a database for every card that the Duel Disk presently makes use of for the game. But every duel disk is independent. The next one's will be solely dependent entirely on the master computer system."

"But, that's not possible." Noah said. "It would take too long to download everything, unless..."

"Unless they are getting their information from direct satellite feed. The Duel Disks will no longer be projecting holographic images...our personal satellite will." VWKaiba said.

Both Noah and Mokuba paused from this information. Noah then stuttered, "B-but that means, if you can download a holographic image from a satellite, then technically I can appear on any Duel Disk out there."

"No," VWKaiba answered. "It means you can appear anywhere that doesn't have a roof over it."

After another beat, Mokuba cheered, "Seto, that's wonderful! Do you hear that, Noah? You'll be able to go anywhere!! Seto's the greatest!"

"I...I don't know what to say." Noah said. If he could cry, he would. He leaped at VWKaiba, saying, "Oh, thank you, Seto!" and dove right through him. He then gave a chuckle, saying, "Oops...for a minute, I forgot I can't do that."

As Mokuba laughed, VWKaiba watched the happiness between the two. Maybe as long as Noah continues to prove he can actually be a member of their family, he might be able to improve some more until Noah becomes just as much of this world as a normal would.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

'Just a couple more to go. And maybe after this, my Seto will return.' Mokuba thought, starting to think of JKaiba next.

"Hold on!" JKaiba said, causing Mokuba to snap out of his concentration.

Mokuba asked, "Uh...what is it?"

JKaiba paused, looking down at Mokuba with only the hint of a smile. He then bent down next to him, asking, "How are you holding up kid?"

Mokuba smiled weakly, "I'm okay, Seto."

JKaiba put his hand on Mokuba's forehead, and frowned... he really didn't like how hot he was. "Are you sure you wont reconsider and rest? I'll stay here... I know you'd rather have your actual brother here," 'though I'm not sure why' "but I'm worried about you."

Mokuba smiled and hugged him. "Thank you, Seto. But I'll be okay...honest!"

JKaiba hugged him back, but could feel how weak he was. He had a feeling Mokuba was covering up how lousy he was feeling, and was worried about his condition. Even though he wanted to get home as much as any of the others, he certainly didn't want to do so on the possibility of his brother's expense. And right now, he was worried that this version of his brother might get even worse if he continued.

And JKaiba didn't even have to say anything. Mokuba could clearly see the hesitation in his eyes. He was ready to call the whole thing off, if something wasn't said. Obviously he was getting weak enough, that his act was no longer convincing him. So, Mokuba said, "Seto, I said I'm fine...you have to trust me on this. And you heard what Yugi said. This might not only be my last chance to see my own brother, but to make sure you get back. And you'd want to see your Mokuba again too, don't you? I'm sure he's worried about you, too."

JKaiba looked down at that. He had been looking down at the Kaiba from this world because he placed another Mokuba's well being over his own...or so it seemed. And wasn't he basically doing the same thing, being so worried over this one that he was ignoring the fact that his own brother was waiting and worrying about him back in his world? What made him any better than the other Kaiba, then?

"You're right." he said. True...the situation was not the same. His Mokuba was healthy and had a much more trusting person to watch over him back home...Joey. It was far better than the other Kaiba that left his sick brother home with some psycho 'Ishizu wannabe' woman. But that still didn't make him any better taking a chance in not going which could possibly make it that he may never get home.

He had to let Mokuba do this, despite the risk to his health. 'I'm sorry.' he thought, hoping Mokuba would be fine after all this. "Just promise me you'll get a lot of rest after this, and not do anything stupid."

"You know me, Seto...I'll be good." Mokuba smiled.

"You better." he said, smiling back.

JKaiba then stood and moved back away from Mokuba. He thought of any lasts words or something he might want to say or do before he left, and his eyes landed on Yami.

Everyone assumed another threat to Yami was coming, since he was the one that stated this had to be done within a reasonable time period.

But then, JKaiba suddenly turned away from him, and instead...he grabbed Joey without warning, pulled him down and kissed him with all the passion he could on the lips. Joey's eyes widened in shock and didn't have time to struggle before JKaiba ended it, whispering in his ear. "Don't forget, pup...this could be yours. But, you have to make the first move..."

JKaiba then released him, allowing Joey to go run away screaming and ignoring the jaws hanging on the ground from Yugi's friends. He then nodded to Mokuba, as if nothing happened, saying, "All right, I'm ready."

Mokuba smirked, finding it now very easy to concentrate on JKaiba next.

JKaiba began to glow. The world around him blanked out for the moment. Then the next thing he knew, he felt someone's lips were upon him. Immediately, his eyes whipped open to see Joey.

JKaiba's reaction caused Joey to quickly move back, looking hesitantly at him. "Uh...hey. You...you okay, yet? Are you 'you'?"

JKaiba blinked, "Why wouldn't I be me?"

"Well, you know...you still think you aint...gay?"

JKaiba looked confused. "Not as far as I know. Why wouldn't I be?"

"So then...you're okay with us?" Joey asked, beginning to smile, hopeful.

"No." JKaiba said, forcing on a straight face, suddenly. "Why would I want a stupid Mutt like you?"

Immediately Joey became downhearted, giving that sad puppy look. JKaiba couldn't resist it. Instantly, he grabbed Joey, forcing him down on the bed and kissed him with the most passion he could muster...it was too long since he had his own puppy in his arms again.

Joey kissed back just as hard, missing every bit. Then shoved him hard away, snapping, "Don't do that again, ya jerk! I thought you was serious!!"

Kaiba just smiled down at him, examining every detail. Only one word came to mind... 'mine'.

Those thoughts were suddenly broken, as they suddenly both heard giggling from nearby. JKaiba turned to see Mokuba coming in from the doorway with a big grin on his face. "Hope I'm not disturbing anything..."

JKaiba grabbed him next, shoving him into bed. "Yes, you are...you little brat. What are you doing in here?" he asked, teasingly, as Mokuba giggled.

"So, I guess you're back to normal, then?" Mokuba asked his brother.

"Normal?" Kaiba asked. That was the second time that came up. Why wouldn't he be?

"Yeah, you was acting all weird and stuff. You said you weren't gay, you could use a sword and...and you even had more scars on you. It's like you weren't you at all..." Joey said. "No offense, but...can I see your back?"

"No!" JKaiba snapped back. 'So...that 'other' me must have been here.' he thought. At that, he inwardly smiled. 'Hmph, he must have had the surprise of his life. Wait a minute...' Suddenly, JKaiba wasn't sure if he was amused by that, or jealous. After all, if he was kissing the Joey of that world, then...

JKaiba's eyes immediately narrowed, saying, "Hold on. There was this 'other' me and you got his shirt off to see his back?"

"'Other' you??" Joey asked. "What do you mean, 'other' you? You mean that wasn't you??" Joey then swallowed, looking rather panicky. "But...but...but...I thought it was you! I mean, it was you...you just acted weird and all. But, it was you! Even Mokuba here could say it was you. So, it wasn't me...it was you!"

JKaiba glared even more at Joey, now. He then looked at Mokuba, saying, "Mokuba...I think you should leave. I need to have to have a talk with Joey."

"No, really...you don't have to!" Joey stated, as Mokuba nodded and headed towards the door.

But before he walked out, Mokuba called back, "He really thought it was you...so did I!"

"See? I told ya, didn't I??" Joey quickly added.

"Go!" JKaiba ordered. Mokuba left. JKaiba now looked down at Joey and asked, "So...what exactly 'did' you do with him?"

Joey swallowed. "Well, ya see...he didn't remember anything. We thought you had amnesia. Hell, even he was starting ta believe that. He wanted to know if it was true about how he felt, so...I gave him an idea what we, you know. So...we did it." By this time, Joey was sweating bullets. He suddenly snapped, "Dammit Seto, I thought it was you! I mean, it 'was' you! How the hell could dare be two a ya!"

"You...'fucked' him?!?" JKaiba asked, harshly.

Joey looked down, like a beaten pup. "I...I'm sorry."

There was a long pause. "Did he enjoy it?"

Joey shook his head. "He told me he didn't...he tried da tell me I took advantage of him, cuz he had a drink or two. But, he did really seemed to like it...even though he said he didn't."

"He drank, too?" JKaiba asked. 'I knew he was irresponsible.' he thought. Then a second idea came to him, thinking, 'I knew he'd like it, too.'

JKaiba dwelled on that. He had to admit, at least it wasn't like Joey was with someone else...it was him. Just, 'another' him. And maybe this meant that the Kaiba of that other world was destined to follow a similar path as his own world. 'Maybe the mutt will listen to me from that other world. It could do him some good...shape him up.'

JKaiba then turned back to Joey, still looking down at the ground, miserably. But, instead of getting angrier at him, JKaiba smirked thinking of how much his puppy probably gave that other Kaiba the shock of his life. Seeing the way Joey of that world reacted, he could imagine how the Kaiba of that world reacted to 'his' Joey.

JKaiba then brought his hand over, petting Joey on the head. "I'm not mad."

"You...your not?" Joey asked, shocked.

"No. I really shouldn't be mad. It could be a lot worst. At least you cheated on me with myself." Then with a sneer, he moved to Joey's ear, adding, "By the way...he wasn't the only one that traveled to another world. I found another you, as well...and he tasted pretty good."

"WHAT??!!" Joey exploded, leaping on top, temper fuming. "You cheated on me, ya bastard!!"

"I was even generous enough to let him be on top." JKaiba lied, letting his puppy get all hot and fired up...he just loved when he got Joey's temper going.

And he continued to laugh as Joey attempt to swat at him, wrestling with him on the bed. The whole time, Mokuba was peaking from the doorway, watching the sight. He sighed and shook his head. "Nothing ever changes..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the real world, Mokuba was growing very tired. All of this was draining what the little energy the boy had left. 'Okay...just one more left.' he thought. 'And once they'll be all gone, I can finally see my Seto again. I just wish I knew if he was all right.'

Suddenly, both Mokuba and OSeto started to glow at the same time. Yugi's group looked confused, and Yami was quite concerned. After all...Mokuba wasn't supposed to be glowing. But, he couldn't stop him without endangering something. All he could do was wait and hope nothing went wrong.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

OSeto then disappeared. He sat up and looked around.

"Wow." he said. "That was one majorly screwed up dream! I gotta cut down on those pizza toppings. Maybe Yami can make something of it."

So, OSeto started along, planning on heading down to Yugi's place. And as he turned the corner, he ran right into someone, landing on his butt. "Oww..."

"Seto? You dumb ass! Watch where the hell you're going!"

OSeto looked at the person he ran into and smiled, seeing his brother there. He quickly grabbed and hugged him. "Mokuba! Oh man, am I glad to see you!"

Mokuba blinked in surprise, for a moment. He remembered that stronger version he had run into for a moment, but quickly shook the thought aside. This was his brother again...good ol' weak and stupid Seto. He groaned from the thought, but hugged him back anyway, as he asked. "Okay, what did you do, this time?" assuming this was Seto's way of asking for help, to once again get him out of whatever trouble he'd found himself in once again.

OSeto smiled, still holding him. When he finally released him, much to Mokuba's surprise, he started walking towards Yami's. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"Then why are you acting this way?"

"Is there a reason an older brother can't care for his younger brother, like he's suppose to?"

Mokuba blinked, asking, "Care for me??" He then started to laugh. "Yeah...maybe because you can't even take care of yourself, much less anyone else. What's got into you? I think your little friendship chants have gone to yer brain, Seto..."

"THERE YOU ARE!!"

They both stopped seeing Joseph Kaiba, surrounded by his security force. He approached with an evil grin on his face, as Seto quickly cringed behind his brother, and Mokuba stood his ground, ready to kick every security's ass, if he had to. Mokuba whispered back, "I thought you said you weren't in any trouble."

"I didn't do nutt'n...I swear!" he muttered.

"Shut up!" Joseph snapped. He pointed at OSeto, saying, "Did you think you could just waltz out of my house and get away with what you did??! I don't know what kind of trick you pulled, but you're going to pay for it!!!"

"Over my dead body!" Mokuba spat.

Joseph Kaiba sneered evilly. "Oh, don't worry...that can be arranged." He then cackled like a mad man, as the security began to approach them.

Once again, Mokuba was involved in a fight with a bunch of tough people, as OSeto huddled in back, hoping his friends would come and help save them.

But, Mokuba couldn't hold them all himself, and one of the security guards grabbed Seto, beginning to drag him to the limo.

But before anything else could take place, another voice suddenly snapped, "Enough!!"

All the security guards instantly stopped and turned in fear...as did Joseph, who was trying not to tremble. "S-sister!" he said in almost panic. He pointed at Seto, saying, "Everything's okay...I have him, sister. He can be all yours, now!"

She took a glance at OSeto and looked very disappointed. "This nobody is nothing to me." She then looked at the guards, and snapped, "Take him!"

But, to Mokuba and OSeto's surprise, Seto wasn't the one they took, now. Instead, they grabbed on to Joseph Kaiba and began to drag him into the limo. "No, not me...take him!! You'll pay for this, Seto...you and your little brother. I'll make you all pay!! I'll make all of Domino pay for this!!!"

He was shoved into the limo, as the security pulled away, taking Joseph back to the mansion. She tugged on her KC collar, adding, "And this time, don't let the little weasel get away."

Still propped on her motorcycle, she looked over at the two. Mokuba still stood his ground, ready to fight if he had to...though knowing if he fought Serenity Kaiba, even he didn't stand a chance.

She gave a cold smirk, stating, "If you're brother every acts...differently again, make sure to have him look me up. We have a match of our own to settle." She then tore rubber on the cycle and sped away.

"Uh...huh??" OSeto asked, stupidly. "What did she mean by that?"

Mokuba smiled, realizing that maybe for once his brother wasn't actually responsible for something. He turned away, saying, "It's a long story. Let's go on over to Yami's place."

"That sounds great, Mokuba! I got this weird dream I gotta tell him about, and see what he thinks of it." OSeto says. "It all starts with the gang calling 'me' Kaiba! You believe that??"

"It's probably jealousy doing that to you." Mokuba said.

"Is NOT!!!" OSeto spat, as they began to argue all the way to the game shop.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At last, all the Kaiba's were gone.

And as soon as they were gone...as Mokuba had hoped, one Seto had reappeared, and looked very confused at that.

But before anything further could be said, Mokuba suddenly disappeared!

"Oh, no!" Yami cried.

"What happened? Where did he go?" Tea asked.

"I'm not sure, Tea. I just hope wherever he is... he's okay." Yami said.

However, what everyone failed to notice was the very, very faint glow that was still emanating around the puzzle.


	45. C45 Kaiba and Mokuba together again!

Mokuba A/N: Okay this won't help much but especially where Kaiba's concerned since he doesn't call Mokuba by his nickname.

Alternate world: Seto and Mokie 

Real World: Kaiba and Mokuba

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x- C43 **Kaiba and Mokuba together again!**

Kaiba suddenly felt a strange pull, nothing like what he's felt from the box before. When he woke up he felt strange. He was lying on a bench, and felt very disoriented. As he sat up, he looked around and noticed the backside of the mansion.

With careful notice, he realized there was something different about the outside. In the distance, was some kind of statue.

Still feeling slightly dazed, as if he was in a dream, he stood and approached the statue. It looked like an angel cradling a small dragon. And lying on the dragon was a pendant that looked like his.

Kaiba had a very bad feeling about this. With a trembling hand, he grasped the pendant an opened it...horrified to see a younger picture of his own face staring back at him. 'Mokuba...' he whispered, knowing instantly that it was his locket.

Looking back at the statue, he now noticed the lettering marked in the statue. It was not very clear, and all he could read from it was, 'Here lies Mokuba...' and '...beloved little brother'.

The pendant fell from Kaiba's hands as it clattered on part of the statue.

The noise seemed to alert someone, as a familiar voice called out, "Who's out there? Yami, is that you?"

'Yami.' Kaiba thought, in confusion. Yami was the name that the group would occasionally call Yugi, when identifying the 'other' Yugi. But, why would he be here at the mansion.

As he wondered that, he noticed there was something hot in his jacket. Pulling it out, he realized it was the box, which was glowing oddly. 'Weird...it's never done that before.' he thought, and began to worry that maybe the thing was broken, which wouldn't be good. Without it, he wouldn't be able to get to that world, or his own.

His other hand reached out to touch the box, but movement distracted him. He looked up to see the person that was calling for Yami, was in fact himself! That would certainly explain why the voice was familiar, but it made no sense. He always took over for the Kaiba in each dimension. Why was this different?

Kaiba's eyes widened in surprise to see himself, as his hand went down touching the box. Instantly the box reacted, and he disappeared from this world.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

YKaiba thinking he heard something, walked over to the spot Kaiba had been and noticed that Mokuba's locket was open and on the ground. That was strange. He walked over, put it back where it belonged, and closed it. But, just as he started to turn away, he noticed it was glowing. Turning back towards it, he reached out to touch it again when he suddenly heard a maid yell.

"Master Kaiba! Mister Yami is on the phone for you."

"Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes." YKaiba called back, as he turned back towards his maid.

"I'm sorry sir, but he insists to talk to you now. He said that he doesn't believe you'll get back to him."

YKaiba growled. 'Yami can be so demanding lately!' Then ignoring the maid, he turned back towards Mokuba's grave sight, and noticed the locket was no longer glowing.

He was about to touch it again when the maid called out, "What should I tell him?"

YKaiba sighed and yelled, "Nothing, I'm coming." With that said, he left.

As he walked away, the locket once again began to glow.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the alternate world, the gang was now just sitting on the couch not really knowing what to do.

"Yugi, isn't there something...anything you and Yami can do?" Angie asked.

"I wish there was, Angie. But I don't know what we could do without endangering Mokuba." Yugi said.

Suddenly the puzzle started to glow.

_"Yami are you doing this?" _Yugi asked.

_"No. I'm not sure what's happening, Yugi." _

Then suddenly...Mokuba appeared, grasping onto the puzzle around Yugi's neck. Everyone gasped, unable to believe that he just appeared. Then without warning, the boy collapsed. Everyone immediately ran over to him.

Angie quickly pulled him into a hug. "Guys, he's burning up."

"Quick, put him on the couch." Joey said.

"I'll get a wet rag." Tea said.

Yugi helped Angie to gently lay him down, as Tristan put a pillow under his head.

Tea came back and gently placed the cloth on the boy's forehead.

"Yugi, any ideas how he got here or why he's sick?" Angie asked sitting next to him.

"No, I wish I did." Yugi said.

"You know, it's strange. I don't remember his hair being that long." Tea said.

"Now that you mention it...I'm really surprised that Noah would give him clothes that look that nice." Angie said.

"Are they even his clothes? That sweater looks way too big to be his." Joey added, skeptical.

"How in the world did he just pop in like that?" Tristan asked. "The only time I ever seen people do weird stuff was with a Millennium Item."

"But, he was hanging onto Yugi's...so maybe that got something to do with it." Joey shrugged.

Tea asked, "Yugi...are you sure you had nothing to do with it? Why would he be hanging onto the puzzle, after all?"

_"Yami...what do you think?" _Yugi asked.

_"Yugi...I don't think that's Mokuba." _Yami said.

Yugi looked surprised, _"What? But, he looks just like him! How could it not be him?" _

_"Actually...I meant I don't think this is 'our' Mokuba. Yugi, do you remember what I told you about Seto? Remember that he had a duel monsters card locket?"_

_"Yeah...so?" _Yugi asked.

_"So, look at Mokuba...specifically what's around his neck." _Yami pointed out.

_"Oh!" _Yugi mentally cried out. _"He's wearing one too!"_

_"Yes. I have a bad feeling that this Mokuba belongs to the one who identified himself as Kaiba."_

_"But, if that's the case...then what's he doing here? You sent that Seto home right?" _Yugi asked.

_"I thought so. But, perhaps something went wrong." _Yami stated.

"Hey...Earth to Yugi, are you in there?" Joey asked.

"Oh, I'm fine Joey." Yugi said. "I was just talking to Yami about this."

"Then, you know what's happening...right?" Tristan asked. "Do you know how he got away from Noah, and here to where we are?"

"Maybe." Yugi said reaching over and picking up Mokuba's locket.

"Hey! That looks like the one Seto, or Kaiba, or whoever it was...had on." Tea said.

"What does it mean Yugi?" Angie asked.

Yugi opened the locket and everyone was surprised.

"That's Seto." Angie said. "But, I don't understand. Where did that picture come from? Does this have something to do with that other Seto?"

Before Yugi could answer, there was a pounding on the door.

They all looked at each other, then everyone said, "I'll get it!" They had a slight chuckle between themselves, and Yugi said, "Why don't you all see who it is. I'll stay here with Mokuba."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Angie opened the door, to see a very agitated-looking version of her brother leaning against the door. Before she could even say anything, he noticed her, and snapped, "It's about fucking time!" and pushed passed her, entering the room. "I didn't think I'd ever make it back to this dump."

"Seto!!" the others cried and rushed over to him in relief.

Tea was first to lunge at him, spouting, "Oh, Seto...I'm so relieved to see you --", and was instantly pushed away.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your hands off of me!" Kaiba snapped. He mentally asked himself, 'And why did I decide to endure this world again?'

Everyone else stopped in their tracks, finally noticing the nasty glare and 'go away' aura around him.

Angie gave a smile and approached despite his actions, saying, "It's good to see you back, big brother."

Kaiba looked over at Angie, and hesitated...now he was really confused. Ever since he got back home, he had been fighting to de-program the fact that she's 'not' his sister. The last thing he wanted to do was act like an idiot and respond to her as such. And now here she was calling him brother again.

As he paused, she took that as an invite to give him a hug. She could feel him flinch and tense up, but was happy to see that he at least did not push her away...even if he didn't hug her back.

Angie then pulled away, not wanting to make her brother feel uncomfortable, and asked, "Are you okay? We've been worried about you."

"Worried..." Kaiba said, finally absorbing her words. Then it's true...this had to be the right world. Despite everything, he had still been uncertain. After all, he had been in so many worlds...he was still disoriented from all the travel, especially after that last trip. "You said you've missed me. That means I've been gone for awhile."

"Yes! We haven't been able to find you anywhere!" Angie exclaimed.

"Yeah." Tea added, once again approaching him. "We've been looking all over for you! We began to think that you'd never come home." As she said this, her hand had unconsciously moved up and rubbed her hand down his sleeve. It was then that she noticed the difference, and she curiously glanced at what he was wearing. "Hey...where did you get this outfit? That looks really nice on you." she smiled, liking the soft feel of his clothes.

Again, Kaiba pushed her off in disgust. "Why the hell would you be searching for me in the first place?"

"Because, we were worried about you silly." Tea said.

Angie sighed. "We finally had to give up, and decided to come here and wait for you to find us."

It still wasn't making sense to him. "So, you were only searching for me because you didn't know where I was? I knew you little groupies were pathetic, but..."

Tristan then added, "Actually, we were hoping you might figure out how to rescue Mokuba from Noah."

Kaiba immediately turned towards Tristan, harshly grabbing him by the collar. "How the hell did Noah get Mokuba again? You people were supposed to be watching him!"

Angie looked down in anguish and shame. "I'm sorry, big brother...I lost him. I...I didn't mean to."

Kaiba shoved Tristan away, and turned to Angie, looking coldly down at her. "What happened?" he demanded.

Angie looked up painfully at him, "W-we were out searching for you. We were afraid you might be hurt or lost or something. Mokie refused to talk to anyone with you gone. But then he started to warm up to me. He started talking to me. But, then...some of Noah's guards showed up. We hid and then when it was safe we went to the park and I thought it'd be safer to stay and wait there. But then…then Noah showed up. I know it was my fault! Noah even said so. He said that if we hadn't waited there he wouldn't have found us. Yugi and Joey showed up soon after and we started running from Noah and his goons. We went through a crowd of people to try to lose them and some how I lost my grip on him and we got separated."

She sniffed as a couple tears fell. "I'm sorry, Seto...I didn't mean to lose him."

"No...it's my fault."

She looked up at him in surprise. She thought he was going to be really angry at her, but he seemed to be taking this so nicely...

"...my fault for even considering trusting you to watch him properly!" Kaiba snapped coldly, instantly breaking her hopeful feelings. "You were already more than well-aware of the danger that Noah was towards him. If you were so worried about me, then why the hell didn't you send the rest of the geek squad to search, and leave Mokuba and yourself out of it??"

"I...I didn't think..."

"No! You didn't!" Kaiba practically snarled in rage. Mokuba was missing...and it was his fault.

Joey then moved forward, and snapped, "Hey, quit picking on yer sister, like that! It aint her fault! She left the house, cuz she was worried they'd know where Mokuba was if she stayed. That wouldn't have helped any!"

Kaiba glared at Joey, replying, "Noah would be hard pressed to be breaking and entering into someone's home to kidnap someone. He doesn't want evidence of his crimes lying around. And incase you have forgotten, we also have parents that could have been helping to watch over him."

"But...they weren't home. You know how busy Mom and Dad can be." Angie said.

Kaiba glared back at her and hissed, "I don't want to hear your excuses. I foolishly allowed you to be responsible, and you blew it." The harsh words put her back into tears.

Not seeming to notice or care, Kaiba turned to Tristan, saying, "Where'd they take him?"

Tristan said, "Mokuba seemed to willingly walk into the mansion with Noah."

Joey added, "We think Noah might uh threatened to hurt us if he didn't do what Noah wanted."

'This is my fault.' Kaiba repeated in his head, hearing every word. Mokuba was suffering. He was certain he took every precaution to ensure this wouldn't happen. It was every legal precaution, but he underestimated how crazy Noah would get. And he should have foreseen this, too. Perhaps he was just being careless because it wasn't his Mokuba, because he was so worried over his brother's condition during that time. But that was no excuse...Mokuba was Mokuba in any dimension.

And it was easy to yell and take it out on Angie for his own mistakes. After all...beating himself up wasn't going to solve anything at the moment. But he suddenly felt a light punch on his shoulder, and turned to see Tea looking angrily at him. "Seto...why are you being so mean to Angie? She feels bad enough as it is!"

"Stay out of this, Gardener." Kaiba said, ignoring her. "This is family business."

As the arguing continued to go on downstairs in the living room, Yugi watched from the top of the stairs where Mokuba was resting.

_"Yugi."_ Yami called to him.

_"What's wrong, Yami?" _

Yami answered, _"I don't believe that's Seto. I think that's Kaiba." _

_"But...you sent him back. How could he be here? Are you sure?"_ Yugi asked him.

_"I thought I did. And I'm not certain. But, I think it's time that we find out."_ Yami answered him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"But, Seto...i-it's okay, now!" Angie cried. "Mokuba's okay, now. He's here!"

That stopped Kaiba instantly, as he looked at her strangely. "You just told me he was capture by Noah. Now, you're saying he's here?" What kind of trick was this?

"Well, he 'was' captured." Tea said. "But, then...for some reason, he just appeared in front of Yugi, holding onto his puzzle. I don't really understand how, but...at least he's safe. Though...there are some things different about him."

"What do mean 'different'?" Kaiba asked, assuming the worst. Mokuba came back even more mentally damaged by Noah, then before. When he found Noah, he was going to ring that little punk's neck.

"Well, his hair seems a little longer than before." Tea said.

Angie added, "He's also got different clothes. When he left he was still wearing his uniform."

"Yeah, and now he's wearing a blue sweater that's way too big for him." Joey said.

At that, Kaiba blinked...not wanting to think of what they were telling him. So far it sounded like 'his' Mokuba, still wearing 'his' sweater. But it couldn't be…could it?

"Mokuba also has a card locket...that looks just like yours." Yugi said, as he approached Kaiba, coming down the stairs.

"That kid's also got a pretty bad fever. Poor thing's burning up." Tristan said.

With that last part said, Kaiba's heart skipped a beat, as his hand automatically reached up to his own locket, grasping at him. 'Mokuba...you can't be here. This can't be true!'

"Seto?" Yugi asked, looking worried at seeing the sudden pale expression on Kaiba's face.

"Where is he?" Kaiba asked.

Angie took his arm, and led him upstairs.

There, lying on the couch was Mokuba. The instant he saw him, he knew it was him. He had no explanation how this could happen...but sure enough, Mokuba was there with him. And his fever felt pretty bad, too.

And Kaiba had such an aura of hate coming from him, just about everyone was afraid to be near him. They never knew Seto to be like this...ever. It's like it wasn't him, at all.

Tea pulled on Yugi's sleeve, whispering, "Yugi...what do we do?"

_"Yugi...let me talk to him."_ Yami said.

Yami came out, then smiled and silently nodded to Tea as she let him go. He then approached, calling out, "Kaiba."

Kaiba looked up and glared at Yami. "What?"

Everyone but Yami was shocked that he responded.

"He's your real brother...isn't he? Do you know how he got here...how 'you' got here?" Yami asked.

"How the hell would I know? You're the one who's responsible for this whole mess!" Kaiba snapped.

Yami asked, "What do you mean?"

"The reason that incompetent nobody you call Seto didn't show up is because he ended up in 'my' world!" Kaiba replied.

Everyone gasped at that. "Then...you're not really Seto?" Tea asked.

"You're pretty slow, aren't you?" Kaiba asked. "I guess some things don't change, no matter what world you're in."

Tea crossed her arms in a huff, as Yami said, "But, that doesn't explain how you two ended up over here."

Kaiba looked down at Mokuba, saying, "Seto explained that Noah would do this. I should have taken that into account...but I had my own problems to worry about." As he said that, he gently touched Mokuba's face.

"But, I left my task unfinished...so, it was my responsibility to fix it. A woman who's been caring for Mokuba, Aiko, she gave me something that would get me over here to take care of loose ends. But, when I left...he was almost better. He wasn't supposed to be here." Kaiba explained.

Tea now looked confused. "But...what about Seto? Couldn't you have just let him come and take care of things?"

At that Kaiba laughed, scaring everyone again. "You've got to be kidding me! That moron couldn't even duel himself out of a paper bag? You honestly think he'd be competent enough to do the job of helping Mokuba?"

Kaiba then looked even angrier, muttering, "Speaking of which, just wait until I do see that little punk again. When I'm through with him, he'll wish he never showed up in my world..."

"What??" Angie exclaimed, surprised to hear another version of her brother threatening her brother.

"Don't you dare threaten Seto!" Tea snapped.

Kaiba glared back at her, "And what are you going to do about it Gardener...preach at me, some more? I'll do what I damn well please!"

"Kaiba, what do you have against our Seto?" Yami asked.

"You want a list or should I just start with the obvious?" Kaiba asked with a smirk.

Yami was a bit surprised not expecting that for an answer.

Kaiba took that to mean he was speechless, which even Kaiba didn't expect. "No quick answer, Yugi? Funny...no wonder this pathetic group is nothing without me around. You're not even a shadow of the Yugi I know from my world. I'd almost be tempted to duel you, but I don't think you'd even be worth it. What a shame..."

Yami became angry from the comment, but before he could say anything Joey jumped in. "Hey, asshole! First of all, I don't wanna hear you bad-mouthing my friends. Second of all, I think the man asked you a question. What the hell do you got against Seto? I mean...isn't he you??"

"He's nothing like me!" Kaiba spat back. "For me to take care of the messes that he couldn't handle, all he had to do was to handle one simple responsibility...and that's to watch over Mokuba while I was gone. Unlike your world, any potential threats to Mokuba were all ready taken care of long ago. And if something did arise, we have security to ensure it stays that way. He didn't have to do anything else, but watch a sick kid and make sure he gets better. Obviously, he can't even handle that!"

"But, this Mokuba ended up here magically, somehow." Tea said. "People don't just pop in like that. So, it couldn't have been Seto's fault!"

"Bullshit! He was responsible, and he failed! And the next time I see him, I'm going to ensure he pays for that failure! No one endangers my brother, and gets away with it!" Kaiba spouted, scaring everyone. This Seto really sounded dangerous. Obviously, without his own Mokuba around, they never had the chance to see this particular side of him. And honestly, they hoped never to see it again.

But Kaiba's ranting caused Mokuba to start to wake up, as he heard his brother's voice and began to open his eyes. He was still very weak from all the energy he used to send the other Seto's and Kaiba's home. He then smiled, knowing that this particular one was really 'his' Seto. There was no question about it. His weak hand lifted, as he gently touched his brother's trench coat "Seto..."

Kaiba turned abruptly, looking down at the little boy. Immediately, the aura of hate Kaiba was emitting instantly diffused, as he sat down next to him. "Hey, kiddo...what happened? How did you get here?"

"It 'is' you!" Mokuba said, and hugged him, not caring to say anything more. He was just so happy to be with his real brother again, nothing else mattered.

A hint of a smile caught the corner of Kaiba's mouth, as he said nothing else for now, letting Mokuba have his moment. Then after a pause, he asked him, "Was it really that bad, back home? You're supposed to be back home resting...what are you doing here?"

The question was so casual, as if he wasn't just about to go back and murder both Aiko and Seto if Mokuba said the wrong word. And the others just stared, unable to believe the difference between the almost psychotic Kaiba a minute ago, in comparison to the caring one they were seeing now. Kaiba could almost remind them of how their Seto was at the moment. But they were beginning to learn that approaching him was like getting near a feral animal. One false move, and he'll spring.

Yugi was also starting to get this feeling like maybe they were intruding on something they shouldn't. _"Maybe we should leave them alone, Yami." _

_"But, we can't go, yet. We still need to discuss the matter on how to save the Mokuba at the mansion. If this Mokuba isn't ours, then the other one is still in danger!" _Yami explained.

Mokuba finally pulled back and giggled at the thought of how to explain everything. "I don't know...I don't think you'd believe me."

"At this point, I think I'd believe just about anything." Kaiba replied, as he grabbed the cloth and started wiping the boy's head with it. "You're fever feels worst again."

Since Yugi was getting antsy, Yami decided perhaps now would be a good time to approach Kaiba. At least he seemed calmer, now. "Kaiba."

Kaiba glared at him, and was about to snap when he felt Mokuba snuggling closer to him.

So, ignoring Yami for the moment, he helped ease Mokuba to a laying down position, muttering quietly, "Try and get some rest." He then took his coat off, gently placing it around his brother...pacifying him as his eyes began to close.

Finally, Kaiba then turned back to Yami, and asked, "What now?"

"We still need to figure..." but Yami was cut off when suddenly Aiko appeared in the room.

Everyone turned to look at her, including a very angry-looking Kaiba. She swallowed, saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I'll be goi..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Kaiba snapped. "What the hell are you doing here, in the first place?"

Aiko gulped. "Hello, Kaiba...a pleasure to see you, as always. I'm glad to see you made it. Have you stopped the timer on the box?"

"No, thanks for the reminder." Kaiba said, placing his locket on the box.

"Good." she said. "Now, all I have to do is follow the stream back to Mokuba in your world." Aiko said.

Seto glared at her, then turned and said, "You mean him?"

Aiko looked, and her eyes went wide! "W-what? How-how did 'he' get here?"

"You're asking me?? You were supposed to stay behind with Seto and take care of him! How the hell should I know how he got here? I showed up in the park and found out he was here at just about the same time I was!"

"Let me find out." Aiko said. She cautiously walked over to Mokuba, and touched his locket, concentrating on the magic that she was reading.

"Well…?" Kaiba asked.

"I sense there was trouble, that was resolved. Then...for some reason, Yugi had Mokuba use the power of his puzzle." Aiko replied.

Yami looked shocked. "But, why would I have him use the power of the puzzle?"

"I cannot say. All I can do is tell you what I saw." Aiko said.

"But, that doesn't explain how he got here." Tea said.

"From what I sensed…" Aiko said turning to look at Kaiba. "He was worried about you and in a way made an unconscious wish to be with you. So, the puzzle granted his wish and well...here he is."

"Any idea what this problem was?" Joey asked.

"No. All I know is Yugi felt Mokuba was the only one who could resolve it."

"Well, let's ask him!" Tristan said, and noticed Mokuba fell back asleep. "Uh...I mean, let's wake him and ask him!"

"You wake him, you die!" Kaiba growled at him.

"Seto's right. Tristan, it's not like it matters. We can ask him later when he wakes up." Tea said.

"Yes, let the boy sleep. As Tea said, there will be time later." Yami said.

"I think I'll be going now." Aiko said.

"Not without Mokuba you don't. And this time, you'd better not screw up and not let anything happen or distract you from caring for him!" Kaiba said.

"I'm sorry, Kaiba...but I can't."

"What! What do you mean you can't?" Kaiba snapped.

"I didn't bring him or send him, so I can't take him back. He made a wish on Yugi's puzzle, that granted his wish to be with you. So, he's stuck here with you."

"Great! And just how the hell do you expect me to deal with Noah and take care of him at the same time?" Kaiba asked.

"Well, I'm sure the others here will happily help." Aiko said.

"Yes, of course we will!" Angie said.

Kaiba glared, not seeming to want to trust her or anyone. He had all ready trusted another version of him and a magically inclined genie, and look where it got him. But he didn't say anything about it at the moment. Instead, he turned to Aiko, saying, "All right...let's say we keep my Mokuba safe, and rescue the other one. When that's over, how is either of us supposed to get home, now?"

Aiko bit her lip. "I'm not sure. I'll work on it."

"Fine, you do that" Kaiba said.

"All right, I'll do my best." Aiko said, and quickly disappeared.

After a moment's pause, Angie said, "Uh...I don't mean to interrupt anything, but who was that lady who just vanished like nothing?"


	46. C46 Seto’s Return!

C46 Seto's Return!

Back in the real world, Seto was standing there...looking around confused.

"What happened, Yami? I was at your place, and now I'm…here."

"I'm sorry, Seto. I'm afraid it didn't work."

"Why? What happened? Where am I?"

"I don't think any of us really knows the answer to that one." Tea said.

"It's a long story." Yugi said.

They then began to explain to Seto what had happened since their attempt to send him back.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the alternate world, Kaiba was still angry that his Mokuba was now with him in this world. Plus, Tea's annoying questions certainly didn't seem to be helping his mood any.

"So? Who is this woman who just popped in and out of here like nothing?" Tea repeated, when Kaiba tried to ignore her.

Just to shut her up, he finally replied, "She was Mokuba's temporary baby-sitter. And after she disobeyed my orders, I'm more than satisfied that she has all ready been replaced." As he said that, his eyes instinctively moved to look at Angie for a split second, before moving back to Mokuba. They didn't need to know whom he chose to be her replacement, which he had no intention on divulging even if they asked.

Yami then thought about it for a second, before stating, "She was one of the people trapped in that box...wasn't she?"

Kaiba nodded. "Her name's Aiko. She's the less psychotic of the two. The one called Ajin was trying to kill everyone, when I got back. She actually helped protect Mokuba, while I was away. That's the reason I've trusted her this much." Kaiba stated.

Yami nodded. "She seems like a good friend."

Kaiba immediately glared at him. "I don't have friends...nor do I want them. She served her purpose. And as soon as she sends me and my brother back home, this temporary truce with her is over."

The comment surprised the group. The next comment caught them off guard even more. "Speaking of those serving a purpose...I'd say by now you have all just about over-stayed your welcome. Everything's now taken care of. So, if you don't mind...you can all just leave."

"Say, what?? We're not leaving!" Joey said.

"I agree. We still have to think of a way to rescue Mokie!" Angie said.

"I can handle that on my own." Kaiba replied. "I don't need anyone's help."

"But, Seto..." Angie said. "I'm you're sister. You want me to leave, too?"

Kaiba inwardly winced from her words, feeling an odd shot of guilt. He wasn't her brother...but it sure as hell felt like it, at times. He glared over at her, and said, "Fine. You're so anxious to stay here and help, then maybe I'll give you a chance to make up for last job you botched up. And this time, you better not blow it. I'll let you stay here and look after Mokuba, while I go and get the other one back. But under no circumstances are you to leave this house...got it?"

"What? Wait a minute!" Tea said in protest. "You're not planning on doing this alone, are you? We should all go together to get the other Mokuba!"

"Is there something you didn't understand, when I said, 'I can handle it on my own'? No one's going anywhere, except me...especially not Mokuba!" Kaiba snapped.

Suddenly, a slight moan was heard, and Kaiba turned to see Mokuba stir in his sleep.

Yugi quietly added, "We should probably go downstairs and talk, so Mokuba can sleep."

For once, Kaiba nodded in agreement, and everyone moved downstairs.

With everyone now in the kitchen and away from Mokuba, Joey was the first to start spouting, as he snapped, "Look, pal...you can't do this on your own! You need us!"

"And how could any of you possibly help?" Kaiba questioned. "I'm not entirely impressed with the job you've all done, so far. If anything, you losers will only be in the way."

Yami stepped forward, stating, "Even you can't possibly find a way through Noah's security by yourself...not to mention Noah himself, as well as his father. Getting yourself killed is not going to help 'either' Mokuba. It's all ready more than apparent that you don't believe in working with other people. But, you've accepted working with us before in the past...even if only for Mokuba's sake. Are you so determined to take a chance by yourself this time, even if it endangers the other Mokuba's life?"

Kaiba gritted his teeth, hating Yami's holier than thou speeches. Obviously, some things just don't change. And he hated to admit it even more, but Yami was possibly right. It would probably up the odds considerably, having help to rescue Mokuba. He couldn't risk his brother's safety...not even for his pride.

Kaiba crossed his harms and looked away in a huff, muttering, "Fine...whatever."

Angie hugged him, saying, "Thank you, big brother!" His eyes twitched from the contact, again hesitant on how to react.

She then pulled away, and asked, "So, Seto...any idea's on how to get Mokie back?"

He couldn't make himself tell her not to call him Seto, either. That voice in his head thinking she was his sister was simply too strong to push away. So, he finally gave up on it, and decided to let it slide...at least for her. "I'm working on it." he answered. "What we need to do is to find a way to distract Noah long enough for me to slip into the mansion and get Mokuba out of there."

"Are you certain you can get in and find him?" Tea asked.

Kaiba glared at her. "Have you forgotten who I am? I know that mansion like the back on my hand."

"But things aren't the same in your world. You said so, yourself...in your world, Noah and Gozaburo are both dead." Yami said.

"It doesn't matter. Things haven't changed that much." Kaiba said.

Yami nodded, "Very well. Then let's come up with a way to distract the guards long enough for you to get in and back out without trouble."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back in the real world, Aiko returned to find Seto talking with Yugi and the others.

"Aiko, have you found him?" Seto asked.

"Yes...as a matter of fact, I did. He wasn't very happy."

"I figured he wouldn't be...that guy's always angry. It's hard to believe that guy could be me." Seto said.

"Tell me about it!" Joey spouted.

Everyone turned and looked at Joey, as he looked at them all, and asked, "What?"

Seto turned back to Aiko. "Either way, I still need you to send me back there. I'll have to deal with Kaiba one-way or the other. I might as well get it over with."

"Are you sure?" Aiko asked.

"Yeah, she's got a point. I mean, Kaiba gets a little...you know." Tristan muttered.

Joey quickly added, "Asshole quickly comes to mind!"

Seto gave a snicker at that, finding it funny that in his world...Joey's his best friend. Yet, in this world...from the way Joey behaves, they must be constantly at each other's throats.

"Dude...you gotta stop doing that." Joey grinned. "Smiling looks so wrong on Kaiba's face."

Seto replied, "Listen...I really appreciate the concern. But, I have to do this."

"Very, well." Aiko said.

Joey shrugged, saying, "Hey, man...you're funeral."

Aiko waved her hand, muttering a slight incantation. An instant after, a portal opened up.

Everyone watched in awe, as magic materialized before their eyes. Joey just shook his head, saying, "That is just so damn cool. And after all the crap we had to deal with, with those other Kaiba's...she makes this whole teleporting thing seem like nothing."

Tristan then elbowed him, muttering, "Hey, Joey...I bet it could make a hell of an adventure, if we jumped through. Wanna try it??"

"No way." Joey said in fear. "Who knows how many more Kaiba's we could run into if we did that!"

Not hearing the conversation between them, Aiko then looked over at Seto, saying, "This will take you to where you want to go."

"Thank you." Seto answered, and stepped through the portal, which closed instantly after he stepped through.

After he was gone, Yugi then turned to her nervously. "Aiko." he said, looking down at his feet. "Uh...when you met Kaiba. Well, uh..."

"What is it?" Aiko asked.

"He didn't happen to know that Mokuba disappeared, did he?" Yugi asked.

"You know how Mokuba ended up there?" Aiko asked.

Yugi waved his hands, "No no, I don't mean the Mokuba from over there...I meant from over here." He looked down again. "We...kinda lost him."

Aiko smiled. "I'm well aware of that. Mokuba is presently in the same world that Kaiba is in."

Everyone's eyes suddenly widened at that information.

Joey then cheered, "That's great! Then, we didn't lose the kid!"

Aiko then cleared her throat to quiet Joey down. She then turned to Yugi, and stated, "Now, I believe it's your turn to explain why you used the Millennium Puzzle to send Mokuba away."

Yugi waved defensively. "You don't understand. We weren't trying to do that, at all. It just kinda happened." He sighed, "Maybe I should explain what happened since you were gone. It's kind of a long story."

"Then, by all means...please enlighten me." Aiko said.

So, once again...the gang started into the story of everything that happened.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seto looked around and was thrilled when he found himself in his bedroom. He quickly ran downstairs where his mother was sitting on the couch knitting.

"Hey, Mom...do you know where Angie, Mokie, and the others are, right now?"

"No...I'm sorry honey, I don't. I haven't seen them since Yugi came by. He said you had to run an errand, that you hadn't returned yet, and then they supposedly left to meet up with you. Why, is something wrong? They're probably looking for you, by now." his mother said. "There's nothing wrong...is there?"

"No. I just, uh...kind of ran into someone I knew. That's all. You're right, though...I should probably go and find them."

His mother then put her knitting down and approached him, brushing back some of his hair from his face with her fingers. She smiled, saying, "You have gotten so big, Seto...you're growing up so quickly. I can't believe all the responsibilities you've put on yourself in such a short time. I don't think I've had the chance to say how proud I've been of you, lately."

Being a typical teenager, Seto was annoyed by her fidgeting with his hair and brushed her hand away. "What do you mean? What did I do?"

"You know what you did...don't be so modest. You finally rescued that poor kid from those terrible Kaiba's. After all these years, you finally did it." she said.

Seto blinked, as that information finally began to set in. 'Shit...he really did do it, didn't he?'

"And that business you partnered yourself with. That's amazing!" she said. "I didn't even know you knew that much about electronics!"

"Huh?" he blankly asked.

She gave a chuckle. "At least you seem to be more yourself, now. Lately, you seemed to be so emotional around me and your father. You've been starting to worry him. I told him it was probably just a phase."

'Emotional???' Seto thought, trying to picture the same person that could scare him 1/2 to death by just glaring at him, getting all weird and emotional around his Mom. 'She can't be talking about the same guy.'

She turned away, saying, "Well...you probably want to go and join your friends. I wont keep you."

Seto was curious, now...after hearing his Mom say that. He brought his finger up to get her attention, mouth open ready to ask about the juicy gossip regarding Kaiba, but stopped himself. He had to focus on his friends first...and Mokie! Mokie was probably still in danger! And Kaiba had all ready done more than enough while taking over his life. He'd be damned if he let Kaiba take any more credit. 'This is my job...I'm going to save Mokie!'

He turned away, saying, "You're right...I gotta go. I'll see ya later, Mom!" and ran out the door.

"Okay, honey." she called back. "Be careful, and try not to keep Mokuba out too late. He needs time to get settled in his new home."

"Okay...I will...I promise. Angie or I will call later if something comes up." he called back and ran out the door.

Now outside, he pulled out his cell phone. It was the fastest way to find his friends. Plus, it would be stupid to go running around trying to find someone, if Noah or his security were possibly out kidnapping people. Hopefully, his friends weren't all ready in danger.

The first person he dialed, was Angie's number.

"_Hello?"_

"Angie, its me!" Seto said happily.

"Oh, my god! It's you...it's really you! Where are you, you jerk...we've been looking everywhere for you!"

"It's a long story. It'll be easier if I just tell you when I meet you guys. So, where are you?" he asked.

"We're all at Yugi's."

"Good, I'll meet you there." Seto told her. He then hung up, and quickly b-lined it to Yugi's place.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seto headed straight to Yugi's, and walked in. He looked around the living room, and called out, "I'm here! Is anyone home??"

Instantly, Angie came running in, hugging him tight. "Big brother...it's so good to see you!"

The others happily came in, as well...followed by a dark foreboding figure in back.

"Seto...it's great to see you back!" Yugi said.

"My man!" Joey happily said. "I knew you'd make it!"

Kaiba continued to glare, watching Angie hug him tightly, as Seto hugged her back. He didn't know why that bothered him. He also didn't know why the nerd groupies surrounding Seto in admiration bothered him, as well. Perhaps it was because he was the one that did all the work, and yet this 'other' version of him was the one they all ran to.

Reminding himself once again that he didn't believe in friendship and that Angie was 'not' his sister, he turned away pretending not to care.

Tea now moved over to him, wrapping her arms around Seto and kissed him passionately...which he gladly returned.

...now Kaiba thought he was going to be ill.

"God, I missed you so!" Tea said. "I knew that other one wasn't you...I just knew it!"

"What?" Seto suddenly asked, as a jealous streak suddenly shot through him. 'What did she mean by that? Exactly how close was she getting with this other guy, anyway?' Seto then looked over at Kaiba, in response to her comment.

Kaiba had caught it too, as he evilly smirked back at Seto and brought his hand up to wipe at part of his face, as if he had just finished making out with her and was trying to hide it. And it worked like a charm, and he absolutely enjoyed the look of anger on Seto's face.

'How's it feel to be with your friends now, loser?' Kaiba deviously thought, feeling satisfaction from Seto's possible angst.

Tristan now spoke up, bringing Seto's attention away from Kaiba...allowing him to calm down. "Dude, it's great to have you back again. Now, the whole gang is finally back together!"

Seto smiled, saying, "It's great to be back."

"Now that everyone else has had their moment with him...I think it's my turn."

The comment caused Seto to look over at Kaiba who had spoken, and was now approaching. His little mind-fuck a moment ago with Seto was amusing and all, but he still had some choice words to give him. Before anyone knew it, Kaiba grabbed Seto harshly by the collar and shoved him hard against the wall. "So, what the hell are you doing here??"

"Seto...leave him alone!" Angie said.

"I'm not Seto...remember?" Kaiba snapped coldly down at her, still for some reason feeling emotionally angry for her running to him. "The name is Kaiba. It would be best that you remembered that."

Why did he always push the people away he didn't want to push away, anyway? Maybe it was second nature for him. But, he didn't care...he was too angry to care. And anger came so naturally for him.

She stood there speechless, as he turned back to Seto, hissing, "I believe you had a job to do. One simple job, and you couldn't even handle that...could you??"

"I had to save Mokie!" Seto cried.

"You couldn't even baby-sit my brother! What the hell makes you think you could save yours!!" Kaiba yelled.

"God damn it, Kaiba...cut it the out!" Joey yelled at him, grabbing Kaiba's free arm and trying to pull him away. Tristan came and joined him, when Kaiba took that free arm, and used it to violently push them both away.

Only when Mokuba came running out of nowhere did Kaiba finally start to hesitate. Now, Mokuba was the one grabbing his free arm and trying to pull him away, as he cried, "Seto, stop it! Please don't be mad...he was just trying to get home!"

Kaiba hesitated, and finally released him. The hold was so tight on Seto that he had lifted him partially off the ground, and it was beginning to cut off airflow. It took a few moments for Seto to recover as he gasped for air.

Kaiba turned away from him, and glared down at Mokuba. "You're supposed to be in bed."

"I know." Mokuba said. "But it started getting really noisy down here, suddenly."

"You're not Mokie. You're..." Seto panted. "...the other one. How did you get here?" He was now starting to understand exactly why Kaiba was so angry. Why didn't Aiko warn him about this part, before she sent him back here, anyway?

"It's kind of a long story." Mokuba said, smiling back at Seto. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live. How are you feeling?" Seto asked, now beginning to stand, once again.

"A lot better now." Mokuba said. That rest did wonders for him. He couldn't believe how much Yugi's puzzle drained him from concentrating on those other Kaiba's.

"So, how did you know it wasn't Mokie?" Angie asked, moving over to Seto, once again. "It took us forever to figure it out."

"His sweater." Seto said. "He was wearing it in that other world. Kaiba said it was his."

"Don't even pretend you give a damn." Kaiba snapped. "The first chance I turn my back, and you left him sick and by himself. You don't deserve to be anyone's brother!"

"I didn't leave him all alone!" Seto snapped back. "I took him over to Yugi's."

All the while Seto was saying that, Mokuba was desperately crossing his hand across his neck, trying to quietly tell him to shut up and knowing the guy was just digging himself into a deeper hole.

"Yugi's?? You took him to Yugi's??" Kaiba yelled, as he once again began to approach Seto, looking like he was going to kill the guy. Quickly, Mokuba grabbed hold of the back of his shirt, as Joey and Tristan jumped in front in hopes to keep him from doing anything crazy.

"And what the hell made you think Yugi and his loser friends would want to care for him?" Kaiba snapped.

"Hey! Chill on the 'loser' part, there!" Joey snapped. "You're talking about us too, you know."

"Language, Seto." Mokuba reminded, as Kaiba clenched his jaw from the comment, but said nothing in response to it.

Seto looked down in guilt, feeling bad over what happened. He didn't think his actions could possibly cause Mokuba to end up in this world. Kaiba was right. His selfish actions to be the hero for Mokie might have only resulted in placing Mokuba in danger, as well. "You're right...I'm sorry. I realize now I shouldn't have done it. I...I didn't think..."

"You're right, you didn't!" Kaiba snapped. "You never seem to think about anything that's truly important! That's why you'll always be a loser!"

Seto flinched from the harsh words, that were hurting him worst that what Kaiba could possibly do to him, physically. And Kaiba wasn't done yet, either, as he continued to snap at him, "Why don't you just admit it to yourself? Your attitude is the very reason you could never free Mokuba. You never listen, and you never learn!"

"Stop talking to my brother that way!" Angie snapped.

Kaiba glared down at her, also stating, "Maybe you should open your eyes for once, and see what kind of person you're defending. One of these days, your brother's irresponsibility is going to put you in danger as well, if he keeps going on the same road he is now."

"Get out of the way!" Seto suddenly announced.

Joey and Tristan were both surprised to see Seto step through them, where they were shielding him from Kaiba. He stood right next to Kaiba, saying, "You have every right to be angry with me. I'm not going to hide or run away...not anymore. If you want to get back at me for what I did...then go ahead and do your worst. I deserve it."

"No! Seto, stop it!" Angie cried to her brother.

"Seto...please don't hurt him!" Mokuba begged.

Kaiba glared coldly into Seto's eyes, who was trying with all his might to be strong facing this other version of him. But even now, Kaiba could see the fear in his eyes. But, he had to admit...at least for once he was standing up and ready to accept the penalty game for his crimes.

Kaiba turned away, not seeming to do anything...as Seto released the breath he was holding, grateful to see Kaiba wasn't going to do anything. He didn't expect it to be a fake-out, as Kaiba whirled back and punched him square in the face.

"Seto!!" Mokuba cried to his brother in surprise. "Seto!" Angie cried, as she got down onto the floor to support her wounded brother.

Tea turned and snapped at Kaiba, "You're nothing but a big bully!!"

Kaiba ignored them all, as he said to Seto, "Let that be a lesson to you. Next time, I wont be so easy on you." He then turned and moved away from the crowd of people, as Mokuba followed beside him.

Kaiba looked down at his brother, saying, "You need to go back to sleep."

"Can I get a drink, first?" Mokuba asked. He had to admit...he actually felt the other Seto got off pretty easy. His brother was so angry, he originally thought he was going to kill him.

Angie then got up, as Tea stayed with Seto to support him. She moved to Mokuba, saying, "I can get him a drink. I need to get a cold cloth for Seto, anyway. You want some grape juice, Mokie?"

"It's Mokuba." Kaiba reminded her. "And he's allergic to grapes."

"We have some apple juice in the fridge." Yugi said.

Mokuba scrunched his nose at that. "I don't like apple juice."

"You don't like apples?" Angie asked. The comments from Mokuba made her wonder about Mokie. Were they the same? Would Mokie have the same allergies and tastes? If that was the case, they would have to make sure to better stock up their own fridge.

"I like apples...just not the juice." Mokuba smiled. His pickiness always pissed off the cooks at the mansion, too. And they couldn't dare say a word about it, either...Kaiba wouldn't stand for it.

"Well...why don't come with me then. We can look together and see if there's anything you like in there. Okay?" she asked. And as she asked this, she automatically looked up at Kaiba to see if he approved.

Kaiba gave a nod so slight you could barely see it...but she noticed and was happy to see him accept her to do that much with his own brother.

"Okay." Mokuba smiled. He put his brother's trench coat back down on the couch, as he got up and followed Angie to the kitchen.

"He's not to have any pop." Kaiba added as they walked to the other room.

Tea watched them leave and suddenly had a feeling it was going to take an even longer time than she had hoped, before they came back with that rag. "Maybe I'll just go in the bathroom and get a cloth for you."

She stood and pointed her finger at Kaiba, saying, "And you better not hurt him again!"

He simply glared as she marched away. But it pleased him to see a more colder and distant Tea, now. Finally...she seemed to begin to understand the difference. Maybe now she would no longer paw all over him, like she was before. It was actually quite refreshing to have the nerd group at arms length once again.

"Kaiba..."

Kaiba glared down at Seto, who had tissue on his nose since the punch in the face caused it to bleed. "You got your brother to take care of. I'll go with my friends to save Mokie. And together we'll free him from Noah."

"Hmph...you still haven't learned a damn thing." Kaiba muttered. "So, how do you plan on saving him, hero? Unlike myself, you have no clue how to get in or out of that place. Once again, you're only thinking about running out and doing it, without a plan or a care in the world of the consequences behind it. Did you even consider what could happen to Mokuba, after you botch the job up?"

Seto hesitated, not sure what to say to that. He had all ready screwed up so much...maybe Kaiba was right. "So...what do you suggest?"

"Any ideas I have to help him don't include you. You're just a liability. You'll do more harm than good." Kaiba answered.

"Hey!" Joey snapped. "Don't be talking about my friend that way! Seto might not be some badass like you. But did you ever think that might be a good thing?? At least he don't treat his friends like crap, like you do!"

"Yeah, ya stuck up prick!" Tristan also snapped at him.

"Cut it out, guys." Seto said, surprising them once again. Seto stood and approached Kaiba, just as did just before the punch in the face. He wasn't exactly sure why he didn't want his friends to defend him...but he had a feeling that they would only make Kaiba madder, by letting them. Somehow...he had a feeling that maybe he was starting to understand this weird version of him a little more. He had a feeling if he fought his battle with Kaiba by himself...the guy might respect him more. And since he might be the only one that could save Mokie...it would be good to stay as much on this guy's good side as possible.

Again he tried to stare at Kaiba with confidence, saying, "I made a mistake by not listening to you before. Will you let me help if I agree to listen to you this time?"

"How do I know I can trust you?" Kaiba asked.

Seto answered, "Because Mokie's life is on the line. And I don't want to risk something happening to him, like you said. Just tell me what I gotta do."

Kaiba continued to stare at him, as Tea returned and took the Kleenex away, replacing it with a cold rag. She also purposely positioned herself in front to block Seto, just incase this stare-down was possibly going to cause Kaiba to punch her boyfriend a second time.

"All right." Kaiba said. "If you really want to prove yourself...I'll give you one more chance. I have an idea."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had sat down on the couch, hands crossed against his chin...and he wasn't looking very happy.

At this moment, Angie came back in with Mokuba who was drinking a glass of hot chocolate. As they moved back in, Mokuba noticed a strange look his brother suddenly gave him as he looked towards him...there was an odd stressful look in his eyes. Something was up.

Mokuba blinked, then immediately sat down to listen in on what his brother was about to say, knowing somehow that whatever it was...he was involved.

"As I told Yugi earlier, we need a distraction that would allow me to get in there, get Mokuba, and get him back out. The problem is that Noah is probably expecting us to attempt to cause some kind of distraction in order to save him. We need to be one step ahead of him...we need to do something that Noah wouldn't expect, to shake him up and throw him off balance. If anyone goes over there and starts pounding on doors to get his attention, all that will do is cause Noah to order reinforcements in guarding over Mokuba. That's why we have to do something totally different. And if this works out correctly, my plan will cause him to do exactly the opposite." Kaiba stated, once again glancing at Mokuba with almost concern.

Mokuba's eyes widened, as he began to understand what his brother was saying, and gave a subtle nod to him to let him understand that he was okay with it.

"So, what is this plan?" Seto asked.

Kaiba now glared coldly over at Seto, replying, "This plan involves you...and my brother. Understand right now that in order for this plan to work, it will be forcing me to trust you in not only carrying out my orders without question, but that you will also be doing all in your power to protect my brother...placing his life even before your own. And I swear, if you botch this up...I 'will' make you pay for it!"

Seto's eyes widened in fear from Kaiba's threat, and nervously swallowed.

"I don't get it." Joey stupidly said. "How does Seto and Mokuba here fit in the whole thing?"

Yami then emerged and nodded in understanding. "I see. So, what you plan on doing is to have Seto pass by the mansion with Mokuba, leaving Noah to believe that the other Mokuba is no longer being held by force."

"That's right." Kaiba smirked. "Hmph...maybe you're not a total waste in this world, after all. Seto's job is actually quite simple. As long as he listens to me...even he can't screw it up. All he has to do is walk by and be certain that a security guard sees him. That guard will undoubtedly report to Noah on his findings. And from what I've seen on Noah's behavior...I guarantee you he'll start ordering his guards on a man hunt to find him before he even considers looking where he originally kept him. Then it's a simple matter of finding him and getting him out."

Angie looked concerned, stating, "Don't you think that's a bit of a gamble? I mean...what if Noah doesn't take the bait?"

"It's a moot point." Kaiba answered. "Even if for some reason Noah doesn't react the way I expect, at the very least it'll cause him to go to the room where he's keeping Mokuba and make sure he's still there. By that time, I'm expected to all ready be in the mansion. It might cause more difficulty to get through the guards and get him out...but as an advantage, their concern will lead me straight to him. I'll still have surprise on my side. No one will expect anyone inside the building...especially not me, after Seto had all ready passed by."

Tea then said, "That still sounds a bit risky." leading Seto to look over in jealousy over her possible note of concern towards him. "But, let's say Noah does send a bunch of guards after Seto and Mokuba. What's going to keep them from kidnapping your brother?"

Kaiba answered, "That's where the rest of you come in. Yugi...you're going to be in charge over your little fan group to set up a distraction and stall them from the main target. I don't care if you plan to duel them, or chant your little friendship speeches...just do whatever you have to, to make sure they are delayed. That should give Seto more than enough time to get Mokuba back here to Yugi's."

Kaiba next turned to Seto, saying, "Don't screw this up. Go straight here, and hide. When everyone's done with their task, we will meet at Yugi's...so you have no other reason to go anywhere else." He then turned to Mokuba, saying, "When it comes to hiding, listen to my brother. Believe me...when it comes to finding a way to disappear, you can't find anyone better than him."

Mokuba smiled proudly at the compliment.

"Any questions?" Kaiba asked.

Seto stood, saying, "First of all...that was Yami you were talking to, not Yugi. Secondly...I don't agree."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at him, as Tea asked, "What's wrong, Seto? You don't think it's a good plan?"

"Actually...the plan is fine. But, I'm going to be the one to save Mokie." Seto stated.

Kaiba shook his head, feeling a headache coming on. "Not this again. For once in your life, can you perhaps 'try' not to be so stupid??"

"Don't you see that makes more sense?" Seto asked. "This way, you're with your brother, and I'm saving mine."

"Great idea, genius...except for one minor problem." Kaiba sarcastically replied. "You know absolutely nothing about the lay-out of the mansion, inside or out."

"That's okay." Seto said. "All you have to do is tell me how to get through it."

Kaiba put a finger up, stating, "First of all...you're too incompetent to even follow the simplest of directions. What makes you think you could memorize a complicated map outline?" Kaiba then drew his second finger, each point he made against Seto added another finger, to point out just how dumb he was being. "Secondly, even I don't know the exact location of where Mokuba is presently being held. I have educated guesses based on my own experience, which I'm confident will lead me there. But someone like you with the instincts of a plant would never be able to find the right area."

"Hey!" Seto snapped.

A third finger came up, as Kaiba continued, "Third reason this wont work is because the mansion is loaded with alarms and security doors, both inside and outside of this building. I don't even think you can handle memorizing the maps to get through. There's absolutely no chance you can figure out both the directions and the security clearances at the same time. You would undoubtedly set one of them off and destroy the whole plan, when you end up getting captured along with him. Then we'd be back to square one to rescue both Mokuba 'and' a moron. And I'll tell you this now...if you get captured, don't think for an instant that I plan on helping you get back out."

"Gee, thanks." Seto pouted, as Mokuba started to hide his mouth so know one would notice he looked like he was about to laugh. His brother was just so good at ripping people apart...even himself.

A forth finger was added. "You lack the experience, you lack the instincts, you have no concept of what you're dealing with, and you're as pathetic and stupid as that stray dog over there."

"What??" Joey snapped. "Hey, who are you calling a dog?!?"

"So...are you finally going to stop insisting on being the one to save him? Or are you going to continue to show just how dumb your really are? All you're doing is wasting everyone's time." Kaiba said.

By this time, Seto was looking at his shoes feeling absolutely miserable. It's one thing to have faults. It's totally another to have them shoved right into your face, like that.

Mokuba really felt bad for him. But, at the same time...he knew his brother was right. Mokuba stood and walked over to him, grasping onto his hand. "Seto...my brother's right. Back in our world, the mansion has a whole bunch of secret doors and passages and stuff. I had to use them not too long ago to escape from this other crazy version of Seto. And if I didn't know them as well as I did...it could have caused some real problems. Even a map wouldn't help much with that. So, you see..."

"Hold on."

Mokuba stopped his explanation, then turned hearing his brother interrupt him. Kaiba was eyeing him strangely, and asked, "Why don't you back that up a bit, and explain to me what you're talking about. Why did you need to use the secret passages back home?"

Suddenly, Mokuba paled...realizing what he had said in front of his brother. "Oh, uh...it's nothing."

"You're going to tell me...right now."

Mokuba lowered his head, asking, "Can I tell you later...please? If I tell you now, it's only going to upset you."

"That wasn't a request." Kaiba added, reinforcing his command on Mokuba.

"Okay..." Mokuba pouted. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Mokuba sat down, saying, "Actually...I slept through most of what was going on. After Seto here left, another one of you showed up in his place. He took me home and let me sleep. But...something went wrong with Yugi's Puzzle, I guess. Cuz then, a whole bunch of Seto's started to show up."

Mokuba paused, as Kaiba urged, "Go on..."

Mokuba looked away, muttering, "Uh, well...then the crazy one started capturing everyone. Then another Seto that looked like a little kid came and got me. We snuck in the passageway, and...found that they had gotten Yugi and his friends! So, then they were dueling for control. And...while they did that, we freed the others. Then after that...Yugi came up with a plan, and sent everyone home."

Kaiba eyed him skeptical, as Mokuba nodded vigorously with a big grin on his face. "Yep...that's what happened. That's it."

Kaiba knew damn well there had to be more that happened than that. Mokuba was acting 'way' too guilty, and pausing too much in his explanation...as if he was making things up.

But there was no sense pushing the issue further...they had another Mokuba to save. Besides...there was no sense spouting their personal laundry for the rest of Yugi's group to hear, anyway.

...strangely, the vague things Mokuba did describe sounded coincidentally like some of the worlds he ended up in. Could those other versions of him have somehow ended up in his world, causing trouble while he was in theirs?


	47. C47 Testing!

C47 Testing!

Seto finally agreed with Kaiba, after Kaiba had ripped his opinion apart, pounding into his head that his plan was the best idea.

"Okay." Seto said. "So, when do we leave? Should we go now?"

Before Kaiba even answered, he saw Mokuba shaking his head no.

Kaiba looked at his watch, stating, "This isn't a good time. Too many guards and the sun's all ready started to set. Early morning would probably be the best. I'd say about 6 am."

"6 am???" Joey blurted, looking horrified that he'd actually have to be dragged up so early in the morning.

"Why so early?" Seto also asked.

Kaiba answered, "During this season, it's light out even at 6:00. There's almost no one else out, which would make you and Mokuba stand out better."

"It's also when the guard shift changes." Mokuba grinned.

Kaiba smiled down at his brother, who knew almost as well about the reasons as he did. "Security is also pretty lax during that time. Criminals have a tendency to think the same thing as you people do about getting up so early. They'd prefer to sleep in and commit crimes at night. That's why night's the worst time and morning is the best time to plan this. Plus, if Noah sleeps in...he also wont be thinking clearly when his guards report to him."

"Sounds good to me." Yugi agreed, as Joey whimpered in the background. Yugi then checked his watch, saying, "Well, it's getting late. We should get some rest and start tomorrow."

"That's great. But, what do we do about Seto and Mokuba?" Angie asked.

Yugi answered, "There's a spare room upstairs. You guys can use it tonight."

Kaiba looked at them strangely. "What are you talking about? Incase you have forgotten, our home is presently 'his' home." Kaiba stated, pointing at Seto.

"You can't come over!" Seto blurted, feeling mixed emotions over Kaiba's statement. "That's Angie's and my home...not yours!"

Kaiba glared over at Seto, explaining, "If you go home without Mokuba...don't you think your parents are going to be suspicious? If he doesn't come back, they're going to know he's missing."

"You're right." Seto realized. "But...what about you? Don't you think Mom and Dad are going to be kind of weirded out, if there's suddenly two of us??"

"I'm not going without my brother!" Mokuba childishly stated.

Kaiba smirked, saying, "Why don't you go with your girlfriend tonight? I'm sure she'll be happy to keep you company."

At that statement, both Seto and Tea blushed. She shook her head and put her hands to her face, as she murmured, "Oh...my parents would never let that happen."

"Hmph." Kaiba shrugged. "Then stay at Yugi's. He's 'your' friend."

"Why the hell do I have to leave?? It's MY house!" Seto snapped.

"Watch your language in front of my brother, before I put you in a hospital room for tonight." Kaiba sharply answered, shutting Seto up immediately.

Before the situation got more tense, Yugi quickly moved over to Seto, saying, "I think that's a good idea, Seto. We haven't seen you back here in awhile. It would be fun to have you stay over here again. And I know my grandpa wouldn't mind."

"Good, then it's settled." Kaiba said, before Seto would make any comment on it. He grabbed his trench coat as he stood, putting it on and saying, "Let's go, Mokuba."

"Okay!" Mokuba said, bounding behind.

"Wait for me!" Angie said.

"Angie!!" Seto called, feeling suddenly left out of the whole loop.

"Quit your whining." Kaiba added as he walked towards the door. "This will only be for one day. Hopefully by tomorrow, everything will be taken care of and we'll finally be able to go back to our own home." Kaiba then opened the door and headed outside.

"Come on, Seto...it'll be fun." Yugi smiled to him.

Seto still looked tense, watching the 'Seto impostor' leave with his sister to go home to his family. "Wait!" he suddenly called and followed Kaiba out the door.

Joey shook his head as Seto left. "You know...if I didn't know any better, I'd say Seto's jealous."

Tristan grinned. "Actually, if I didn't know any better...I'd say Kaiba and Seto act more like brothers then they do with Mokuba. I mean...how often do siblings get along like that?"

"Hey! I get along with my sister!" Joey snapped.

Tristan answered, "You don't even live with her. Of course, you get along!"

"Well...Seto and Angie get along." Joey said.

"Yeah, when their lives are on the line!" Tristan said. "You've seen how they can fight with each other."

"I wonder if Seto will miss Kaiba when he's gone." Yugi thought.

"Pfft! Yeah, right! Like he'll miss a burr in his clothes...painful and annoying." Joey added, causing Tristan to laugh.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hold on!" Seto said, jumping in front.

Kaiba gave him a bored look, asking, "What's the problem now?"

"Since I been home, I've heard you've done a lot of things here. I want an update on what you did." Seto said.

Kaiba crossed his arms, answering, "You can't figure that out? We've only been talking about it most of the night. Mokuba was rescued and Noah's reputation was publicly smeared across the entire world. Do you have any other stupid comments to ask, or are you finally going to get out of my way?"

"What is this about a partnership?" Seto asked. "Mom said something about it, but I didn't understand."

"That's a surprise. You not understand something?" Kaiba smirked. Seto scowled at him, and Kaiba gave a sigh, reaching for his wallet inside his trench coat. "Hold on." he said, as he opened it, looking for something.

He pulled out a card and handed it to him, saying, "Here...I still have John Foley's business card. But since this is your world, I wont need it, anymore. He's is the owner of the Dance-athon Arcade. You're presently in a partnership with his business, at this time. As long as you take the initiative to show at least a slight bit of responsibility, you should do well there. Just don't screw it up."

"But...wasn't that place closing?" Seto asked.

Kaiba smirked, saying, "I gave him a reason to keep it open."

Mokuba blinked, saying, "You joined up with some kind of dance business?"

"It's a teenage hang-out." Kaiba shrugged. "But they're main attraction is now the new dueling arena."

"How the hell can they compete with Pegasus Land??" Seto gaped.

Kaiba replied, "You'd be surprised what I'm capable of. Is that all?"

"No." Seto said, now with an odd mischievous grin. "Mom said something about you getting all emotional around them. Is there something else I should know about?"

That was definitely a question Kaiba didn't expect to have ask him. And it was awkward to have him ask it in front of Angie and Mokuba, as well. Especially Mokuba, but not because he thought the information was embarrassing. Kaiba feared his past reactions towards the parents in this world might make Mokuba think he'd rather be here...which definitely wasn't the case. Mokuba was his family, that's all that mattered.

As Mokuba looked over at his brother in confusion, Kaiba's eyes narrowed as he snapped, "Obviously, you're mistaken."

But his retort caused Angie to giggle in the back ground, as she said, "He's got a point, Seto...I mean Kaiba." she added, remembering he didn't want her calling him Seto, anymore. Which was kind of depressing to her. "I mean, you did act kinda weird around Mom and Dad at first. Why did you act so strange, anyway? I mean, yeah...I'm sure your world is different, but..."

"That makes sense." Seto suddenly said, as it finally began to sink in. "It's because both our parents died when you were young, huh? So, then our parents are the same. God, it must be weird to see them after so long...huh?"

"Shut up!!" Kaiba snapped harshly at him, surprising him. "Those are not my parents. 'My' parents died years ago. They don't mean a thing to me, now...and your parents mean nothing to me, as well!"

Kaiba then grabbed Mokuba by the arm, saying, "This is my family, and it's the only thing that matters!" With that, Kaiba didn't say another word as he marched away, practically dragging Mokuba with him...hanging onto him for dear life.

The two just stared as he walked away, surprised by Kaiba's outburst. "Why was he so angry?" Angie said. "And why did he say our parents don't mean anything? He doesn't really hate our parents, does he?"

"I don't know why he does 1/2 the things he does." Seto said, shaking his head. "That guys unstable. Just be careful around him, okay? And don't let him act all weird around Mom and Dad, either."

"Oh, yeah...like I can stop that." she said, slapping his shoulder. "I better go...I'll see ya." She then turned and ran, saying, "Hey, wait up!"

"Seto, stop!" Mokuba cried, finally getting him to let go of him. "What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong!" Kaiba snapped angrily, but tried to slow his pace so his brother wouldn't have to struggle to keep up.

"I don't think the other Seto was trying to tease you." Mokuba said. He smiled, adding, "He was probably just surprised to hear you might have acted different around other people, that's all." Mokuba hesitated, before adding, "It must have been fun for you to be able to go back and see Mom and Dad when they were alive."

"No...it wasn't." Kaiba said. He looked down at Mokuba, saying, "When Ajin sent me there, it was under the agreement that you would be there and not be sick. But, just as I suspected...he lied. There was a Mokuba here, but it wasn't you. Getting back to you was the only thing on my mind that entire time. I never stopped fighting to get back."

Their conversation stopped when Angie ran up, out of breath. "Wow...(pant)...I didn't think I'd be able to catch up. Thanks for waiting for me."

Kaiba looked at her strangely, since that wasn't the reason he stopped.

"Well, we couldn't leave you behind." Mokuba quickly lied. "Especially with Noah out grabbing people. Isn't that right, Seto?"

He nodded quickly, realizing his own personal angst momentarily got in the way of her safety. At least in this world, she was his sister...making her his responsibility, as well.

"Why don't you lead the way, Angie?" Mokuba added. "You probably know the way better than we do."

"Okay!" Angie said. She had to admit, it was so strange hearing Mokuba so talkative, compared to the other version of him. It would be an adjustment she would have to get used to.

Kaiba was relatively quiet as they headed to Angie's, lost in his own thoughts. He realized now that it was his own jealousy towards Seto that got him and Mokuba to head to her parents in the first place. Anger swelled in him the instant Seto announced he was going to go home and leave Kaiba behind at Yugi's. He wouldn't accept that. Seto was going to go home with a girl he was now seeing as his sister, to greet people Kaiba had began to feel were his parents. They all belonged to him...he came here, he played the hero, and he saved everyone. And now Seto was trying to take that all away. Seto wasn't even supposed to be here until he made it back home. It wasn't right for him to show up prematurely and try to now take this from him.

So, Kaiba fought for what he wanted against Seto...and originally, he thought he had won. But, now this victory could very possibly come back and bite him. He wanted to be with Mokuba during that time he was with his parents and allow his brother to have the same momentary comforting experience that he had. But all that might do is make Mokuba think that he wanted his parents back and that Mokuba wasn't enough. He didn't want his brother to feel that way. And that was the reason he was beginning to regret the decision he made. The fact of the matter was...he really wasn't sure how well he was going to be able to control himself around Seto's mother and father.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"We're home!" Angie called, coming in the door.

"My, you kids are late tonight." the Mom said, coming in to greet them.

"Well...Yugi wanted to play with Mokuba, too. So, we stayed over there awhile." Angie said. "Where's Dad?"

"He's working late tonight." the Mom said. "Well, you had me worried. Next time you're out so late, make sure and call. I didn't just let you have that cell phone just to gossip to your friends, you know."

"Yes, Mom..." Angie said, rolling her eyes.

"And you." Mom said, pointing at Kaiba and taking him off-guard. "You're the oldest, and should know better to let everyone be out so late...especially with your new brother who hasn't even had time to settle in yet. You need to be more responsible!"

Kaiba clenched his jaw at the last comment, as both Angie and Mokuba snickered at him. "Yeah, Seto." Mokuba added. "Stop being such a child!"

Kaiba glared down at him. But then his mother said, "Hold on a minute...let me take a look at you."

Kaiba suddenly looked back up, fearful that she might have realized he's not her real son. But it wasn't his face she was looking at. "My god, what do you have on?" she asked, practically circling him, looking over his clothes. She touched his trench coat, feeling the material. "That looks so nice on you...wow! Well, no wonder you were out so late. You guys must have been out all night shopping for clothes. That looks so good on you!"

Kaiba wasn't used to the attention from his mother hovering around him, and was really starting to feel awkward from it.

She smiled up at him, saying, "Why didn't you say something? You're getting yourself all dressed up for that new job, aren't you?"

Kaiba blushed and turned away, muttered, "Yeah..." It was the easiest to explain the changes. And having both Angie and Mokuba laughing about it in the background certainly wasn't helping him any, either.

"You know...I didn't know you had such good taste in clothes. Maybe next time we can go shopping for clothes together." the Mom added, causing his blush to deepen.

Finally, she turned away and focused on Mokuba, to Kaiba's relief. She squatted down, saying, "Well, hello there, Mokuba. It must be so strange for you to be here with a whole new family. You've been with your brother for so long, you're probably starting to feel that he's your parents."

That caused Mokuba to shut up and blinked strangely at her. Boy, did those words hit home for him. "Uh..." he stupidly said, with no idea in the world what to say to her.

"Well, we're going to make sure you feel right at home, here. It's actually kind of funny." she said, as she brought her hand up, stroking his long hair. "It almost feels like I've all ready known you."

She then stood, saying, "We have your new room ready for you upstairs." She then turned to her other 'kids' saying, "Why don't you two take Mokuba upstairs and show it to him. I'm sure that'll make him happy."

"Okay." Angie said, being just about the only person in this room that was used to their Mother, grabbing both Kaiba and Mokuba by the sleeve and dragging them away. "We will."

The Mom called back, "We're going to have supper in a little while. Make sure you're ready. And you all better have your hands washed before you reach the table! And make sure Mokuba puts on another pair of clothes. That shirt he has on is drowning him!"

Angie led them upstairs, and went to the room that was Mokie's. "Well, Mokuba...this is your room. You like it?"

He shrugged, not really caring. After all...it really wasn't his room. He then looked up at Seto, saying, "Angie's Mom's really nice, isn't she, Seto?"

"Hmph." he grunted saying nothing more, as he protectively crossed his arms and looked away.

Angie added, "Well, anyway..." She started then moved to the closet and opened it. "Wow, it looks like mom really went all out! I guess she's excited about your being here. So you're got some new clothes in the closet, Mokuba. Why don't you put one of them on, since Mom don't want that big shirt on you. And, you should probably change too, Seto. You wouldn't want any food to get on that new work uniform of yours!"

Kaiba glared at her, as she giggled and rushed from the room, saying, "I'll be in my room, bye!"

Mokuba giggled. "Angie's kinda nice, too."

"Hmph." Kaiba grunted again.

Mokuba then asked, "Seto...do you think the Angie from our world will be that nice? She 'is' going to be my new baby-sitter."

There was a touch of sadness that hit Kaiba's eyes, as he answered, "No." He then pushed himself off the wall, leaving Mokuba's room, as he added, "Angie's not our sister in that world. She's nothing to us there."

Mokuba looked sad from that, as Kaiba left.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

At Yugi's house, Tea and Tristan had to head home. Joey was still there, though...especially after hearing that anyone that stayed was welcome to have supper.

Yugi's Grandpa and Mom were sitting at the table, as well as Joey and Yugi. Seto was still standing though, and pacing back and forth like a caged animal.

Yugi turned to Seto, saying, "I don't see why you're so worried? They'll be fine over there."

"Kaiba's over there!" Seto exclaimed. "He's going to do something, and my parents are going to figure it out, and everything's going to get screwed up! I shouldn't have let him stay there, I should have went myself and made him stay here, instead."

Joey laughed at that. "I don't think anyone could make that guy do anything he don't want."

"What are we talking about, here?" the Mother asked, though having a feeling she didn't want to know. Somehow, every time she asked, her son or her father would start talking about Millennium Items, ancient past, spirits possessing her son, or magic of some sort that was rotated around the card game that they play. Personally, she was tired of hearing it, and especially tired that her superstitious father was only encouraging her son more.

Yugi turned to her and said, "It's kind of complicated." all ready getting the mother to roll her eyes. "There's another Seto that ended up in this world with another Mokuba. They're staying at Seto's house to rescue the Mokuba from this world that was captured by Noah again."

"But Mokuba doesn't belong with Seto." Grandpa said.

"Yes he does." Yugi said. "Seto won the match of Duel Monster with Noah in order to win Mokuba from him."

"What?" the mother asked. "They were gambling the ownership of a child in a card game? That's terrible!"

"That's the way Noah is, Mom." Yugi said. "Noah doesn't care about anything. That's why he agreed to the deal."

"So, Noah now has Mokuba again?" Grandpa asked, concerned.

"Yes. But the other Seto is actually Seto Kaiba, who grew up in a similar situation...so he knows all about the mansion and how to help get Mokuba back." Yugi said.

Seto stopped and spouted in a huff, "Just because he happens to know how to get in and out of that house, it doesn't make him anything special, you know. He's still a Kaiba!"

"Dude...chill. Kaiba's gonna save Mokuba. You should feel glad about that." Joey said.

But, Seto still pouted, "We don't need his help! We can do it on our own!"

Ignoring Seto's childish tantrum, Grandpa asked, "Once Mokuba is rescued, how do these other two kids expect to get back home?"

"Don't worry about that." Yugi said. "Kaiba knows this genie called Aiko. She's all ready teleported here to check on him and make sure the magic box that got him here wont send him away again. She said she's going to find a way to teleport him back home, right after..."

"Okay, that's enough!" the Mother said. "No more magic talk around the kitchen table! And Dad, stop filling my son's brain with this crazy magic talk. You're encouraging him!"

"But, it's all true!" Grandpa insisted.

As they argued, Seto moved to a nearby window looking out into the night, an anger building in him. 'It's not fair that you're there. That's my sister, and my family!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Dinnertime!" the Mother chimed happily, watching her three kids come to the table. Kaiba had put on a casual pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and Mokuba had on one of his new pairs of clothes. He was also snickering at Kaiba, muttering, "Nice clothes..."

Angie was all ready in her pajamas, as she plopped down to look over the meal. "Oh, not meat loaf...I hate meat loaf!"

"You're going to eat it." the Mother said. "When you're old enough to have a place of your own, you can pick whatever food you want to have. But, while you're in my house under my roof..."

"...I have to go by your rules. Yadda yadda yadda. But, that's not fair!" Angie childishly said. "I don't know anyone that likes meatloaf!"

"Yes you do." the mother smiled, making Angie groan and strangely glare at Kaiba.

"It looks okay to me." Mokuba said, as he sat down playing with his shirt.

"Stop fidgeting." Kaiba scolded.

"But, it itches!" Mokuba whined.

Kaiba remembered the order they did things at suppertime the last time he ate with them. He grabbed a bowl, put some food on his plate and passed it to Angie.

"Hey!" Mokuba said, surprised it didn't go to him first.

"That's the order they do it in." Kaiba snapped.

"Seto, it's okay. Mokuba's new here...he doesn't know this, yet." the Mother said.

"Yeah!" Angie said, sticking her tongue out at him, causing Kaiba to scowl at her, as Mokuba giggled in the background.

"Now, Mokuba..." the Mother began to say. "What you do is grab a portion out of the bowl nearest you, then you pass it clockwise to the person next to you...until it's been totally passed around. I'm not sure how your other family trained you to eat..."

At that comment, Mokuba non-challantly glanced Kaiba's way.

"But, when you eat, you make sure to keep your elbows off the table. And if you need anything, ask the one near that food to please pass it to you. Do not try to grab it over the table." she said.

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "I know..."

As she spoke, Kaiba had gotten up to get a drink for both Mokuba and himself. He turned to Angie, asking, "Do you want something?"

"Huh? Oh, you're getting me a drink, too? Thanks! Yeah, gimmee some milk, too." Angie said.

The mother smiled at Mokuba, saying, "You know...from what Seto has told me, I was expecting you to be a lot quieter than you are."

The comment caused everyone else to freeze, including Mokuba. "Oh. Uh, well...I am quiet! I mean...it was just so fun today, you know...getting clothes for Seto and all, that I guess I didn't realize I was talking more." He then grinned, saying, "Don't worry...it's just a phase. I'll be quieter soon enough."

Kaiba just put his hand to his face from the absolutely lame excuse his brother just spouted out.

The mother blinked. "Oh, that's not what I meant. You don't have to be quieter. You're fine talking the way you are. I was just surprised, since Seto told me you were."

"Well...there's just times I'm quiet and times I'm not, that's all. This is just...one of those times I'm not." Mokuba said, not sure what else to say on the matter.

Angie was trembling, barely able to control herself from spitting her food all over the table. Mokuba's excuse was just so funny, she was surprised she didn't collapse out of her seat yet.

Kaiba slammed the milk down next to Angie, in an attempt to sober her up, as he glared down at her. He then took a seat, and began to calmly eat his food.

Angie smirked over at him, saying, "At least this time you're actually eating your food."

Mokuba grinned at that, saying, "Seto's never been much of an eater." then quickly shoved his hand in front of his mouth, once again forgetting that he shouldn't divulge such information in front of the mother.

Kaiba just shook his head.

The mother smiled, saying, "Well, I doubt you had much time to see him eat except snacks. Seto's actually quite an eater when he's home."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba A/N: Sorry last weeks chapter was never even considered! My cat got sick Thursday and then Friday we sadly had to put him to sleep. So the last thing on my mind was last weeks chapter, sorry.


	48. C48 Jealousy

C48 Jealousy

Kaiba stopped and glanced up at the Mom, obviously not knowing anything about Seto's normal eating habits. He was suddenly wondering if he should try and eat more than usual, so it didn't look suspicious.

Angie caught the look and grinned, saying, "Yeah, Seto...you sure are a hearty eater. And now that Noah no longer has Mokuba, you don't have any stress that would make you lose your appetite any, huh?"

Kaiba gave the girl a death-glare, as the mother smiled, "Well, that's good...because I know how much you love my meat loaf. I'm sure Angie could tolerate it for one night, since you've definitely earned it."

"You're right, Mom." Angie said. She made sure to take a big scoop and added more meat loaf to Kaiba's plate, saying, "Seto's done so well to get Mokuba back, that he deserves it!"

Now, Mokuba was trying not to giggle.

He glanced angrily over at Angie, muttering very quietly, "I hate you."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After supper, Seto was immediately out the door, as both Yugi and Joey caught up with him, grabbing him by the sleeve. "You're not going to stop me!" Seto flailed.

"Dammit, Seto...stop being such an ass!" Joey snapped.

Yugi added, "You're not going to do any good by going over there! If your parents see you 'and' Kaiba at the same time, they're going to be suspicious!"

"I'm not going to let them see me...I just want to make sure everything's all right!" Seto replied.

Joey said, "You know what you're problem is...you're too hot-headed!"

"Oh, you should talk!" Seto said. "At this moment, my sister and parents are over there with a guy who was prepared to kill me a few hours ago! Why shouldn't I be worried??"

"You're over-exaggerating." Yugi said. "He wasn't going to kill you."

"I couldn't breathe, Yugi! Yeah, he was going to kill me!" Seto said.

Yugi shook his head. "Kaiba wouldn't do that."

"Is it so bad to worry? I don't like leaving him alone with them!" Seto said.

"All right, let's calm down!" Joey said, shutting everyone up. "Maybe you got a point. I wouldn't feel too good having Serenity near that version of ya, either. The guy's a bit freaky. Ta tell ya the truth, I don't know how we ever thought he was you. So...if we go together, will that work for you? That way, we can at least keep ya honest." Joey said.

Seto nodded happily, and they packed up ready to wander off during the night.

And as they left home, a serious-looking man in a business suit parked in a brand new black car picked up a phone to talk to someone. "We found him."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I think I'm going to be sick..."

Kaiba was sitting on a chair in Seto's room against the wall with a terrible stomachache. And both Mokuba and Angie were in the room with him, laughing.

"I'm sorry, Seto...but I couldn't resist. That was so funny!" Angie laughed.

As Kaiba glared daggers at her, Mokuba was laughing, too. "That was so great! I thought you going to throw it all up at the table. I can't believe your Mom said that. 'Oh, Seto's such a good eater!' Ahahahaha!!"

Angie was laughing even harder as she started to tear. "And he...he cleaned the whole plate!!" pounding her fist on the bed.

Kaiba finally snatched a pillow and threw it at her, causing her to squeak. She turned to him, and said, "Hey, you can't hit a lady!"

"And what makes you think you're a lady?" Kaiba snapped back.

Mokuba grabbed a pillow, saying, "I'll defend you, Angie!" attacking Kaiba back with a different pillow.

After the first hit, though...Kaiba stopped the pillow, saying more seriously, "Cut it out. You've been sick. I don't want you to..."

"Oh, will you stuff it!" Angie said, now also hitting him with a pillow, surprising him. "It's not going to hurt him any having a little fun. Why don't you just live a little?"

But sadly...Kaiba wouldn't accept the play fight, even if he was the unintentional starter to it. "Forget it. I've all ready had my share of living." he said, still holding his stomach. "I'll be right back."

As he headed to the bathroom, Mokuba called out to him, "Don't puke!"

Angie was pouting, now...saying, "Awww...I wanted to have a pillow fight."

"You can pillow fight with me!" Mokuba said, picking his pillow back up.

But Angie's mood was more depressed, now. "How come Seto doesn't play like my brother does? Why does he act so mean to me at times, and almost nice other times? Why does he act so different from my brother? Why does he hate him so?"

Mokuba sighed. "Seto didn't grow up with parents like you did. This whole family thing is probably really weird for him. He's not used to it, and...I don't think he wants to get used to it." Mokuba turned away. "It's not like we'll still have a family like this when we get back home."

He then lowered his head, saying, "It's gonna be kinda hard for me, too. I mean...over here, I also have a sister, which is nice. I got someone almost my age to play with. But in our world, you're not our sister. You probably don't even care about us."

"Oh...I'm sorry." Angie said. "I didn't know." Angie paused. "Mokuba...do you think your brother likes me?"

Mokuba smiled, "I think so. Again, he probably just doesn't want to get hurt."

"But, he's still mad at me for losing you. I know he is. It's my fault that Mokie is over there. I don't know if he'll ever forgive me for that. He got him back and safe, and I basically let them have him." she said, looking down.

Mokuba shook his head. "Seto can say some mean things at times...but he doesn't always mean it. Knowing my brother, he's probably blaming himself more than you. I doubt he's mad at you at all for that."

"But, why would he blame himself? I'm the one that lost him." Angie said.

Mokuba shrugged. "That's just the way he is."

Angie sighed, saying, "It's getting late. Mom's right, we probably should start to get to b..."

"Hey, what's this?" Mokuba suddenly asked, saying anything to keep from going to bed. He grabbed at the first thing he could see on the desk and pulled it off. It caused some of the mess to spill off the desk...but he got what he grabbed at.

"That's just Seto's stuff." she said, rolling his eyes. "He doesn't throw 'anything' away."

"It looks like an old art folder." Mokuba said.

That peaked Angie's curiosity as she looked over at it. "Wow...those are really old. He must have been like 5 when drew these. But, that's weird...why would he have them on the top of his desk, like he just recently looked them over? He doesn't normally bother with that old stuff."

They started looking through the folder, as it caused Angie to look more surprised. "I think I've seen this folder before. This is something that Mom's kept around. She must have given it to him to look over."

Kaiba came back in feeling better, and stopped immediately after seeing what they were looking at. Mokuba looked up and said, "Hey, Seto...check this folder out. It has..." and stopped. "You all ready seen this, haven't you?"

He looked away awkwardly, and nodded. "Angie's Mom...she decided to give it to me one night. I don't know why."

"Yes you do." Angie said, cornering him. "Mom told me you were talking to her about the art table you used to have as a little kid. That's from that table...isn't it?"

"That's none of your business!" Kaiba snapped at her.

"Stop it, Seto...she's not saying that to be mean." Mokuba said, causing Kaiba to look away once again.

"Why are you getting all defensive?" Angie asked him. She then paused and asked, "Hey...you don't remember doing these pictures, do you?"

Kaiba stayed silent, not saying a word.

"Seto...??"

"It's in the past, it's a moot point, it doesn't matter!" Kaiba snapped. He then nodded towards the clock, saying, "It's late...it's time to go to bed."

But, Mokuba then stood and walked over to him with the folder with those big teary eyes, freezing Kaiba in his place. "It would be so cool to hear about what you did when you were younger. Could you show us? Please, Setoooo??"

His eye twitched, looking at him, then down at the folder he should have never accepted and looked at in the first place. He whispered back, "Those memories are over. You're my family now."

"I know I am." Mokuba said. "I'm not questioning that. I just wanna hear more about you. Even the times I wasn't around yet. Please??"

Kaiba lowered his head in defeat and nodded in agreement.

z-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Listen, lemme go first, before you do anything crazy...okay?" Joey asked Seto. "If it looks like he's about to roast your parents and sister, I'll make sure to let you know."

Seto reluctantly nodded as Joey snuck up.

After a few minutes, Joey came back, snickering. "What's so funny?" Seto asked.

"I'm sorry. It's just...I didn't think the guy had it in him. That had to be a Kodak moment. It's okay, they're fine. They all together looking all cute and all...they're fine." Joey said.

'Cute??' Seto said, as he turned to his house. Without another word, he ran to the tree Joey had climbed a moment ago in order to look into his bedroom window. "Seto, wait!"

It was true what Joey said...they were in no danger. But the sight made him even more angry than if Kaiba was doing harm to any of them.

Kaiba was sitting on Seto's bed in his room. He was wearing his clothes and going through what looked like a very old folder. To his left was Mokuba huddled up against him. To his right was his sister doing the same. Kaiba had his arms around both of them, as he pointed at a cut up piece of paper, talking to them about it. They both seemed so happy and content with him. And Kaiba...had a smile on his face. It was very slight, but more than Seto had ever seen on him.

Seto was just about to move forward and start pounding on the window in rage, when Joey got a hold of his T-shirt and pulled hard, dragging him off of the branch he was on.

"So, you even thought about dragons when you were this young!" Mokuba said.

Kaiba smiled. "I wasn't very good at drawing. You were much better at it than I..." Kaiba suddenly glanced over at the window seeing movement, but there was nothing there. His eyes narrowed.

"Seto?" Mokuba asked and began to look up at him.

Kaiba's eyes had quickly moved away from the window, as his hand moved from Mokuba to his stomach. He cleared his throat, muttering, "It's just my stomach. I'm going to have to go again."

Angie now looked sad. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you so sick."

"It wasn't so bad." Kaiba said. "I just don't think I'm used to the food." Kaiba then moved off the bed and walked out of the room.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Let go of me!" Seto flailed, desperately wanting to get back up that tree.

"Seto, I don't see why you're getting so upset from this. You're sister's fine, you're parents are safe..." Yugi was saying.

"Oh, bullshit! That prick's just trying to lull them into thinking their safe before he sinks his claws into them! I'm not having that guy touch my sister!" Seto snapped. "Do you know how wrong that is having some impostor in the same bed with her??"

"Dude...he's like her brother!" Joey snapped.

"Don't you get it, yet!" Seto yelled. "In his world, Angie's not his sister! For all we know, he might be trying to come onto her or something!"

Suddenly, the tugging on Seto from Yugi became a violent grab, and Seto was shoved harshly against a tree. "What the hell are you doing here?" Kaiba snapped.

"Trying to protect from my sister from you, that's what? What do you think you were doing with my sister on my bed with you???" Seto snapped back.

Kaiba grabbed his collar, pulling him right into his face. "What the hell are you trying to imply!!"

"Yo, people! You guys keep yelling out here, and your parents are going to come out and see the two of you!" Joey exclaimed.

"That's not the worst of it." Yugi said, running up to them, and trying to push them both away. "Someone's coming!"

They ducked away in time for a car to pull up and the father leaving the car and heading to the house.

Kaiba glared over at Seto, shoving him down, harshly whispering, "Thanks to you, we were almost caught. You made a promise that you were not going to cause anymore trouble and listen to me!"

"That's regarding the plan...not this!" Seto hissed back. "You have no right to be with my family! You don't trust me, well I don't trust you! And personally, I still think I should be the one to save Mokie!"

"Fine...you don't want to listen? Then you can also stay home. We'll do the job without you." Kaiba replied.

Yugi looked concerned, "But, Kaiba..."

"Take this loser back to your house." Kaiba snapped. He then turned to Seto, and hissed, "The next time I see you show up here, I'll take you down, myself."

Joey then noticed something, saying, "Yugi...you dropped something out of your pocket."

Yugi picked it up, saying, "Oh, no! It's Grandpa's Blue Eyes! I've been so worried about Mokuba, that I forgot to return it to him!"

"Give me that." Kaiba suddenly said, snatching the card away.

"Hey, that's my grandfathers card!" Yugi said.

"No it's not...this one's a fake." Kaiba said.

"Fake?" Yugi asked, startling everyone else. "But, how?"

"Yeah, that don't make sense." Joey said. "After Noah gave you it back, you've had that card the entire time."

Yugi thought about that for a minute. "Wait a minute. Actually, before I left Noah's place...a guard bumped into me."

Kaiba frowned. "Then, Noah swapped it back again." This pissed Kaiba off even more. Noah was more than backing out of his agreement by trying to steel Mokuba. Every thing he agreed on he was betraying. 'You're going to pay for this, Noah. No one double-crosses me and gets away with it!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Master Kaiba." one of the guards said to Noah, bowing to him.

Noah boredly answered, "What is it?"

"Seto Yagakamiya was spotted, sir." the guard said.

Noah smirked. "Was he, now? Where was he seen?"

"Our spies report that he was seen with Yugi Motou and Joey Wheeler, while returning back to his home." the man said.

"You're sure it was him?" Noah asked.

The guard nodded. "Yes, sir. Positive."

"Good. Its about time he came out of hiding!" Noah said. Noah then went to his desk and wrote something down on KC stationary, placing it into an envelope. He then handed it to the guard and ordered, "You are to deliver this to Seto Yagakamiya at his home."

"Yes, sir." The guard said taking the letter and leaving.

"Now that that's settled, I think it's time to visit my pet again. Mokie has been a bad dog. And anything that dares to disobey me must be punished!" He laughed, saying, "So, you think you had it bad the first time, Mokuba? Just you wait until you see what I have in store for you, this time!" Once again Noah laughed, as he headed down the hall with some sort of chain in his hand.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba was now directing his anger at Yugi, as he snapped, "Why did you allow him to come down here in the first place?"

"Come on, Seto...chill out." Joey said, putting a hand on Kaiba's shoulder. "The guy was just worried about his sister."

Kaiba then turned away from Yugi, shrugging off Joey's hand and staring him down. "First of all...don't ever touch me!" he said, burying the flash of that gay Joey he ran into in the first dimension, and squelching it quickly. "Secondly, the name is Kaiba...do not compare me with this incompetent nobody."

"Hey!" Seto snapped.

"And third, I could care less what his problem is. Everyone is all ready well aware that Noah has been grabbing people. They're out there, while you morons are wandering the street at night. What part of me mentioning that Noah's guards are at their most efficient at night, did you not understand! If they end up spotting both Seto and me together, we're not going to have a chance in hell to save the other Mokuba!" Kaiba spat.

Suddenly, to their surprise...another car was now pulling up. They all ducked away in time to make sure no one saw them out there. To their surprise, it was a KC security vehicle.

"Oh, shit! What's a Kaiba security doing here?" Seto asked.

Yugi then whispered, "You don't think anyone could have gotten sight of Mokuba over here, do you?"

Kaiba gritted his teeth. If they did...they might have to jump the gun on the plan right now, or do something drastic. "I'll check it out." he said, then added. "Do not let Seto come out. He can't be seen!"

"But, I--..." Seto sputtered out, as Kaiba headed towards the driveway.

The guard was just about to reach the doorbell, when the door opened and Angie surprisingly came out. "What do you want here?" she asked, defensively.

"We are looking for Seto Yagakamiya." the guard answered.

"I'm right here." he stated walking up. "Now, what do you want?"

The guard looked around Kaiba, suspicious of where he came from. He then focused back on Kaiba, and handed him an envelope.

Angie asked, "What does it say?"

Kaiba smirked. "Noah's challenging me to a rematch." He then put the paper in his pocket and took out a pen. After jotting a few things down on the envelope, he handed it back to the guard. "Tell Noah I accept his rematch. Those are my conditions. Make sure he understands that Mokuba is 'not' going to be a bargaining chip. He lost him to me fair and square whether he admits it or not. I will 'not' give him up."

"What? He can't do that!" Seto hissed next to his friends. "This is 'my' fight!" Just then, Seto leaped up from the bushes, where Joey and Yugi grabbed him and pulled him back down.

The obviously rustling caused Kaiba, Angie and the guard to look over. 'That idiot!' Kaiba thought. 'If he doesn't cut it out, he's going to ruin everything!'

Kaiba then turned back to the guard who looked awfully suspicious over the strange noise. And wasn't that Yugi Motou he just saw in that bush?

"Is there something more you need?" Kaiba snapped at him.

The guard, who wasn't used to anyone but the Kaiba's standing up to him like that, was surprised by it. Instinctively, he said nothing, going back into his car and quickly leaving.

Kaiba then turned to Angie, asking, "What are you doing out here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing, Mr. 'I have a stomach ache'." Angie said. When Kaiba simply scowled at her, she added, "Mokuba noticed the car pulling up and knew it was Kaiba Corp. So, we had him hide while I went to get the door."

"Next time, let me handle it. For all you know, they might have been after you next." Kaiba scolded her.

Angie just smiled at that, saying, "Why, were you worried?"

Ignoring the comment, he turned to the other three approaching, as Angie asked, "Seto...what are you doing here?"

"Trying to screw everything up, as usual." Kaiba stated, before Seto could answer. He grabbed him by the collar, snapping, "You better hope that guard didn't see you. Because if Noah figures out there's two of us, we will never be able to rescue your brother!"

With that, he turned and went back inside...making sure that Angie went in, as well.


	49. C49 Explanations

**C49 Explanations**

"Hold on." Seto said, stopping Kaiba from return into the house. "Listen...I understand the reason why you don't think I should try and be the one to get Mokie from that mansion. Maybe...maybe you're right, and I don't have enough experience in getting my way through. But, I'm telling you now. If anyone is going to fight Noah, it's going to be me!"

Kaiba just shook his head, and pushed him away. "Give it up. You wouldn't stand a chance against Noah."

"Yes I would. You might have taken him down once...but I'm going to be the one to beat him, this time!" Seto insisted.

Kaiba finally turned, and crossed his arms. "All right, Bonkotsu...and how do you intend to do that?"

"Huh?" Seto asked, not expecting the question. "Well...by dueling him."

"Do you have a deck made up? Do you have any new cards besides the simple ones I all ready gave you? Do you think you might have learned at least something new since the last time I tried to teach you to duel?" Kaiba asked.

Seto blinked...not sure what to say. Finally, he muttered out, "M-my cards are strong enough."

"Of course they are. They've done wonders, so far." Kaiba smirked. "Fine. You have your sister and two friends here, right now. Ask them who they think should duel Noah." Kaiba said.

With that, Seto smiled and confidentially turned to his friends. However, they were all looking away nervously, not seeming very supportive in the least. "Oh, come on, guys...tell him! I know I can do it! Noah was all ready beaten once! He'll be weaker now...his game will be thrown off!"

Kaiba just shook his head from Seto's response, unable to believe that the main thing Seto was counting on to win was his belief that Noah would be weaker than before. "That has to be the stupid reason to duel that I ever heard."

"But, it's true!" Seto said.

"No, Seto...I'm afraid you're wrong." Yami said, who took over for Yugi. "Kaiba's defeat will not cause Noah to crumble. If that was the case, he would have never challenged Kaiba a second time. If anything, Noah's challenge will be even stronger than ever!"

"But...how can that be?" Seto asked. "Noah all ready has practically every card that was ever made. How could be possibly be even worst?"

"Because Noah would have learned from his mistakes. He was over-confident in his last duel with Kaiba. When he duels him this time, Noah will attack him with all the determination he has. Even Kaiba may not be able to win this." Yami said.

"Hmph." Kaiba smirked. "Of course I will. You forget the last time I faced him, I was limited by the cards that loser managed to scrounge up."

"Stop calling me a loser!" Seto snapped.

"This time, I brought my deck. Noah doesn't stand a chance." Kaiba stated.

Seto glared at Kaiba, then at Yami, and turned to Angie. "Angie...you're on my side, right?"

"I'm sorry, Seto. I - I want you to be the one to beat Noah. But..." Angie stuttered out.

Seto just stared. He couldn't believe the short time Kaiba was with her, he had all ready poisoned her mind! Even she was against him!

"Hey, man...it's not like we don't believe ya." Joey said. "But, you're way over your league, here. I mean, even Yami can't beat him!"

The comment caused Kaiba to glance over at Yami. To think that Yami couldn't defeat Noah...it seemed so disappointing to him. Yami just wasn't the same dueler that he knew him to be in his world. For moment, he wondered why Kaiba's life changes could possible cause any difference in Yami's abilities. But he shook those thoughts away. It didn't matter...none of it did. Were any of these other worlds even real? All that mattered was his mission here and to get back home.

And in all honesty, the way Seto kept challenging his decisions, he was 1/2 tempted to tie the guy up and throw him in their basement until it was over. But, Seto was involved in his plan, and it would take too long to come up with another plan in such short a time span. Mokuba wouldn't wait much longer...he had to help him.

So, Kaiba turned away and headed for the door, saying, "Go back to Yugi's. We'll be there before 6."

"Hold on." Seto said, once again stopping Kaiba. "Give me one chance...just one to prove that I can do this."

Seto then pulled out his deck, saying, "I challenge you to a duel!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Kaiba said, looking bored. He turned away, ignoring him. "I don't have time for this."

"I'm not going to just lay down and accept your rules! If you want me to listen, then you'll have to duel me!" Seto snapped.

At that moment, the door began to open, and the father's voice was heard, calling, "Seto??"

Immediately, Joey grabbed Seto, throwing him into a bush and jumping in front to hide him.

The father saw sight of Kaiba and Angie, staring over at him, then Yugi and Joey tightly next to each other offering very nervous grins.

"What's going on out here?" the father asked.

"Yugi and his friend came to visit." Kaiba said quickly.

The father nodded, saying, "I don't mind you boys being over here. But, it's getting late."

"Don't worry, Dad...they wont be here long." Angie said.

"Okay." the father said, closing the door back up.

Kaiba glared down at the moving bush that Seto was cursing in and sighed. He then turned to Angie, saying, "Go check on Mokuba. Tell him I'll be in shortly."

"Are you going somewhere?" Angie asked.

"Yes." Kaiba asked. He turned to Yugi and Joey, saying, "Drag him in the basement. I'll be down in a minute."

"What are you going to duel, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"If dueling him will shut him up and finally make him go back with you...then fine, I'll duel him. Maybe then he'll figure it out." Kaiba stated.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba brought his deck down stairs after pulling it out of his trench coat inside the house. He calmly sat at a table down there and shuffled his cards.

"Now, this is the deal!" Seto said, in some small attempt to be in charge of something. "If I win, I get to challenge Noah. And if you win...you get to challenge him. Agreed?"

"If I win, I also don't want to hear you constantly arguing with me anymore. Can you handle that?" Kaiba asked.

"Fine!" Seto snapped, causing the others to roll their eyes.

Kaiba handed his deck to Seto to shuffle, as he shuffled his cards. "This wont take long." He calmly placed a Giant Germ in attack mode, with one card facedown and ended his turn.

Yami remembered Kaiba's duel against Noah, and wondered if he planned on using the combo he used against him in that duel.

Seto didn't have much of a poker face, grinning like an idiot. At least, that's how Kaiba felt. And seeing someone look like that wearing his face was difficult to look at. "Okay!" Seto said in confidence. "I summon my Battle Ox in attack mode!"

Kaiba looked unimpressed, which Seto either didn't notice or was too excited to care. As far as he was concerned, he was doing great. His deck had been improved with Kaiba's help, and he even had all three Blue Eyes somewhere in his deck. Among those three...one of them were all ready in his hand.

"I'm going to show you just how strong I am!" Seto boasted. "Battle Ox, take out that germ!"

Battle Ox charged, slicing the Germ. Doing so caused Kaiba 700 damage.

Kaiba just shook his head. "You really are stupid, aren't you? This isn't even going to be worth my time."

"What do you mean?" Seto asked. He was then startled to see he had also lost 500 points. "What? But, how?"

"Killing a Giant Germ automatically does damage to you. But, that's not all..."

Seto now gasped, seeing something spreading across his Battle Ox...like some sort of disease. His monster was blasted away instantly. "My Battle Ox! What did you do?"

"Simple. My Giant Germ was also carrying a very infectious virus, thanks to my Crush Card." Kaiba smirked.

Yami nodded. "I knew that card had to be it."

Seto was even more startled to see the virus also spread to all the strong monsters in his hand. "No! My Blue Eyes!!" The monster obliterated, being sent to the graveyard.

"The Crush card will spread to 'all' your powerful monsters, infecting and destroying every single one!" Kaiba smirked. "And I'm not done, yet..."

"What? You mean, there's more??" Seto asked in fear. To his amazement, there 'was' more! Suddenly, two more Giant Germs appeared in attack mode on Kaiba's side of the field.

Kaiba explained, "Not only does my monster card to damage to your life points...it allows me to summon up to two more from my deck to the field. So...do you end your turn?"

"I...I..." Seto said, staring in shock. In his first turn, everything suddenly looked so hopeless. "There's nothing I can do."

"You're right...there's not." Kaiba answered.

Seto dropped his head, saying, "I end my turn."

"Now, it's my turn." Kaiba said, drawing a card. He smirked and said, "You have no idea how to control the power of that Blue Eyes you had in your hand. Allow me to demonstrate the proper use of such a beast. I will first sacrifice my two Giant Germs to summon my Blue Eyes on the field!"

"No!" Seto cried. "Not, all ready!"

"Oh, but that's not all. Since you obviously couldn't hand controlling your own dragons...allow me to take them one of them off your hands for you. I use Monster Reborn, summoning one of your Blue Eyes to the field!"

Seto gasped, as the card he had discarded was now on Kaiba's side of the field, and he was helpless as two of these monsters were breathing down his throat.

"It's time to end this nonsense. Blue Eyes, burst stream...end this battle!" Kaiba commanded.

In an instant, Seto was all ready below zero life points. He just sat there in shock. "It's...it's over." Even Noah never crushed Seto 'that' badly before. Seto never felt so helpless. Like the words that Kaiba used to constantly bash down his ego...his dueling seemed to be the same way. Fast and furious, cruel and without sympathy.

He lowered his head in defeat. "I...I can't believe it's over. It barely even started."

"Wow, Kaiba...that was harsh." Joey said.

Kaiba gave Seto back the Blue Eyes to Seto's deck, reshuffling his own deck. "It was the only way he was going to learn. I expect you to honor your side of the deal. Go to Yugi's house. We'll be there in the morning."

Seto got up, looking so defeated. Kaiba actually hated seeing Seto like that, since he looked so much like him. He turned away quickly, so he wouldn't have to look at him.

"Big brother?" Angie asked, putting a hand on Seto's sleeve.

"I'm okay." he said, thought his head was still lowered in defeat.

Yugi touched Seto's shirt, saying, "Come on, Seto...let get back to my place."

He nodded and they quietly left back to Yugi's. Angie looked up at Kaiba, saying, "That wasn't nice!"

"I never said I was nice." Kaiba snapped at her.

"You didn't have to take him down that hard!" Angie replied.

"Yes, I did." Kaiba answered. "If our battle ended up close in the least, he would still be deluding himself that he could win. Crushing him quick was the best way. Besides...in duel monsters, there is no room for pity."

"In your heart, there's no room for pity!" Angie snapped. "How can you always be so cold to other people."

"You're not a duelist. How could you possibly understand?" Kaiba asked.

"What's dueling have to do with this? Yami's a good duelist and he is willing to offer a certain amount of mercy!" Angie stated.

"And where did that get him? Noah will still crush him anytime he gets the chance, and his grand father's constantly sick from the pain and misery that Noah put them through. Mercy is for fools who are just begging to be stabbed in the back, and pity is for losers. And as much as a loser your brother is, and I don't even think he would want to be pitied. It won't help him if he tries to fight Noah. He's just going to have to accept he's not good enough for the job." Kaiba snapped.

"And how do you think you would feel is someone came and constantly told you, you weren't good enough? How do you think that would make you feel?" Angie asked.

"Unlike your brother, I'm aware of my limitations." Kaiba retorted. "And I would never allow myself to be that pitiful."

Kaiba started up the stairs, saying, "Just like you're brother is going to have to accept one of these times that he's worthless, you're going to eventually have to accept that your sister of a worthless brother."

He then left Angie behind to stew, as he went to check on Mokuba. It was time for them to get to sleep, anyway.


	50. C50 The Plan

**C50 The Plan**

It was morning at Yugi's house. Yugi had set his alarm extremely early to make sure to get everyone up early enough. Joey was the hardest, who continued to try and hide under covers and pillows...and had to be bodily dragged off the couch to finally be woken up.

"Bastards." Joey grumbled. "I can't believe you woke me up this early. There's gotta be a crime about getting up at this time."

Seto was still sulking, as he asked, "You guys really don't think I could handle Noah?"

"Dude...give it a rest." Joey grumbled, tiredly. "Kaiba had you wasted in one turn. What chance would you have against Noah?"

Seto just shook his head. "But, Kaiba beat Noah before...and with my deck. And if he could do it, then I should be able to, also."

Yugi replied, "Kaiba first modified your deck, and then counted on Noah's ego to be lax with him and not give his all. As it sat, Kaiba was still barely able to defeat him. This time, Kaiba has both the skills and the cards to win."

"And I don't?" Seto asked.

"Dude...Kaiba's not going to have an easy fight with even the cards that creamed you. So, stopped acting like you can beat Noah, when you never could before." Joey said.

Seto looked down. "Do you think Kaiba will win again?"

"We hope so." Yugi said. "But, I did notice one problem that Kaiba has. Like Noah, he too seems to be almost too confident in his abilities. Hopefully his ego wont get in the way, as well."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had finally gone to sleep very late at night, and woke up at 4 am...he had been up ever since.

Angie noticed the door was open and came to see him thumbing through his deck with an evil smirk plastered on his face. She looked at him, and said, "Noah's going to be stronger than ever...isn't he?"

"Of course." he said, as his card filing had revealed a Blue Eyes card. He hesitated at it, looking it over in admiration.

"He's not going to be like challenging my brother. I know you have stronger cards, but...Noah's going to be very determined to win. Do you really think you could beat him again?" Angie asked.

"Hmph." Kaiba grunted. "Noah doesn't stand a chance."

Angie looked away, adding, "But, even if you are stronger...you seem to still have a similar styled deck that Seto has. I've heard there are cards that are made to specifically go after dragons. What if Noah uses those cards? He has practically every card ever made."

"Noah can use whatever cards he chooses. That punk still doesn't stand a chance." Kaiba spat.

He then glanced at the clock and put his cards away. "It's time. We need to get going."

"Okay." Angie said.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The group had finally gotten all together at Yugi's house. Seto glared at Kaiba, asking, "Have a nice sleep?" still angry that Kaiba had practically taken over his life for a day. At least he was no longer in his clothes, which Kaiba was in fact very glad to be out of.

"No." Kaiba stated coldly. "Your room's disgusting. I don't know how you sleep in that crap."

"My room's not disgusting!" Seto snapped, as the others began to laugh from the comment.

Angie added, "Your room is pretty messy, Seto."

"You're not allowed to be in my room in the first place!" Seto added, snapping at his sister.

Angie stuck out her tongue, saying, "Well, yesterday it wasn't your room...it was the other Seto's!"

"It wasn't his room, and don't call him my name! He's nothing but a lousy Kaiba!" Seto snapped. "So, stop trying to be so cozy with him. You keep trying to treat him like he's me...but he doesn't care about you at all!"

"That's not true! He might not be like you, but he's still you!" Angie said. "He just...had a different past, that's all."

"And part of that past is that he had no sister. He might tolerate you because in this world you're supposed to be his sister. But, that doesn't mean he thinks of you as his sister. You don't mean anything to him!" Seto spat.

"Yes I do!" Angie said.

Mokuba then moved in front of her, and also snapped at Seto, "Stop picking on my brother, 'and' your sister!"

"Fine." Seto said, more calmly then expected. He turned towards Kaiba who was trying to ignore the entire argument between them, and said, "Then tell her, Kaiba. Tell her how you feel."

Kaiba glanced his way, saying, "Don't try and drag me into your family problems."

"She thinks you care about her, and think of her as a sister. The least you can do is tell her what you really think. Stop deluding her of the truth!" Seto snapped.

"Seto..." Angie said, approaching Kaiba. "You do care about me, right? My brother's wrong...isn't he?" she asked him, approaching.

Mokuba watched the sight, concerned...afraid of what his brother might say to her, especially with that look on his face. "Big brother..." Mokuba said to get his attention, in hopes his silent plea could ensure his brother wouldn't say anything harmful to her.

Kaiba glanced towards Mokuba, then back down at Angie having those big innocent eyes that Mokuba had given him so many times in the past. "You all ready failed Mokuba in this world. What makes you think for a moment that you would mean anything to me?"

Her eyes became wide and filled with tears as she ran to Seto for support, and cried in his shirt. Seto comforted her, trying not to look too smug. It might have been one of the first times Seto reminded Kaiba of himself. And he wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Mokuba lowered his head in disappointment, who all ready had a feeling that his brother was going to crush that girl's hopes the moment it was asked.

Everyone else was just staring at him in shock. Joey then approached, grabbing at Kaiba's sleeve. "Before we go anywhere, I wanna have a talk with you...right now!"

Kaiba ripped his arm away, snapping, "What makes you think I'd want to talk to some loser dog!"

"Because you need our help to get the other Mokuba back. And if you don't want this plan to fall apart, then you better damn well listen!" Joey snapped.

But, Kaiba just smirked, saying, "Don't even try and threaten me, mutt. If you mess up this plan, you'd never forgive yourself for being responsible for Mokuba's suffering. Don't even try to think of fooling me. You don't have the brains to do that."

"Seto...Angie's upset, right now. We can't leave this second, anyway. I'm sure whatever Joey has to say will just be a moment." Mokuba pleaded, as he also went over to comfort Angie.

Kaiba grudgingly turned and left the scene with Joey following behind. Once out of ear-shot, Joey faced him and asked, "Why did you hurt her, like that?"

"Because it's the truth." Kaiba said.

"Bullshit! I saw you last night. I don't think I ever saw you look more happy in that bedroom with her and yer brother!" Joey snapped.

Kaiba glared. "I didn't realize we were going to be spied on by a bunch of idiots who obviously have nothing better to do with their lives then stalk me."

"I was only checking to try and keep Seto from doing something stupid when he looked through the window. I wasn't doing it to spy on you!" Joey yelled. "So, are you gonna deny it to me, too? If you really didn't care that much, you wouldn't a been so nice to her in the first place! You had no right to do that to her!"

"I'm not staying here, Wheeler." Kaiba snapped. "She might as well get used to the fact now, before she decides to get too 'cozy'!"

Joey shut up, suddenly realizing. "Then...you did it to try not to hurt her. But, don't you think she'd be happier to leave on good terms with you, then being mean to her?"

Kaiba crossed his arms, and turned away. "She all ready has a brother. And Seto doesn't need his sister constantly comparing later who's the better one."

Joey thought about that, then gave a smile. "You know...I didn't know you cared."

Kaiba glared down at him, and spat, "I don't." He turned back towards the group and began to walk away, adding, "This conversation is over."

Joey gave a chuckle as he left. This version of Seto was so much more complicated and harder to understand. But, he was now beginning to see what Angie had meant that Kaiba might not be her brother, but he's still him. Even though every other aspect of the two seemed different, the fact of the matter was...the core was still the same.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Kaiba had strutted back to be with the rest of the group, Angie had calmed down and was clinging to Seto's arm. She glanced sadly up at Seto, then back down at the ground.

Yugi approached, saying, "Okay...is everything ready? Is it time?"

"We have a problem." Kaiba stated. "There's going to have to be a change of plans."

Everyone froze, as Yugi blinked. "What's wrong?"

Kaiba showed Yugi the letter that Noah gave him last night. "He wants this duel to start at 8 am. I hadn't expected him to want to start this so early."

Joey was also back with them and shrugged, saying, "So? That means we'll just have to have Mokie out of there before the duel starts."

"You don't understand." Kaiba said. "But, then...being such a lousy duelist, you probably wouldn't."

Yugi turned and explained. "If he wants to duel by 8, that means Noah will all ready be up and ready, now. We're not going to catch him off-guard like we hoped."

"So, what's the big deal?" Tristan asked. "He'll still be surprised by those two passing by the mansion and being told that Mokuba escaped."

Yugi stated, "But, if he's all ready up, for all we know he might be with Mokuba when we pass by. Then he'll know something's up."

Kaiba announced, "I'll need to go in first to get Mokuba out. We'll need a new stalling tactic until we know for sure where Noah is. Yugi...since Noah no longer holds blackmail against you, I want you to go up there with everyone and demand a duel with Noah. That should draw him out and help keep him out of the way. Mokuba, I want you hidden and on the side lines."

"Why everyone?" Angie asked.

Kaiba replied, "Because if Noah and his guards see everyone together, they would never suspect anyone is trying to save the other Mokuba. That will keep the guards watching him down to a minimum."

"And, what about you, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

Kaiba answered, "I'll be saving the other you, of course." He then gave a subtle smirk. "Do you think you can help me with that?"

"Sure!" Mokuba grinned, all excited that he could somehow help. And maybe this was even better than the original plan to have him 'walking by their house'. This way, he's actually doing something, and helping his brother out.

"Good." Kaiba said, looking at the others as he put his hand out. "I need two cell phones, and their numbers."

"What for?" Tea asked.

"So, I can keep in contact with him, obviously." Kaiba stated.

"Hold on a second!" Joey suddenly snapped. "If this duel was meant for 8 am, why didn't you tell us this in the first place?? Or why didn't you just change the plan with the security guard when you found out it was so close to time to rescue Mokuba?"

Kaiba stated, "First of all, I don't back down from a duel. We were going to have to duel him sometime, we might as well get it over with. Besides...I have some new conditions to add if I win."

"But, he barely honored any of them last time. What makes you think he's going to change, this time?" Tristan asked. Kaiba gave Tristan a glare, but didn't answer.

To those that didn't know him, it made it look like perhaps he wasn't sure, himself. But, Mokuba knew him, and began to suspect there was something else to the plan that he wasn't telling anyone.

"I get it. You didn't catch it, did you?"

Kaiba glanced over at Seto, who had now spoken. Seto then added, "You screwed up! You didn't realize it was 8 am until you all ready agreed." Seto then laughed, certain he was right. "So, the perfect businessman can make mistakes, too..."

"Hmph." Kaiba grunted. "Maybe I wouldn't have been distracted, if I didn't have some moron jumping out of the bushes and trying to give everything away during the time."

That only made Mokuba more concerned. Now, he knew something was up. His brother practically admitting he made a mistake? He was definitely trying to hide something. But, what? 'Seto...what are you up to?' he wondered.

Kaiba then turned away, saying, "It's a moot point. This will work out for the better." He then checked his time, saying, "There's no time left to argue about this. If we're to get the other Mokuba out of there in time, we have to go, now."

Tea and Angie handed Kaiba the 2 cell phones, along with their numbers, and Kaiba gave Mokuba one of the phones. He then grabbed Seto by the collar, snapping, "Yugi is to challenge Noah as a distraction. If you try and get in the way, your Mokuba will 'never' forgive you messing up his chance of freedom! So, don't screw this up!"

Seto pushed him away, stating, "He's called Yami, and look who's talking. If you want us to work as a team, you better stop changing the plans and start working with us for a change."

"I know what I have to do. You just do your part and stay out Yugi's duel." Kaiba retorted, before pushing him away. Kaiba then turned, saying, "Let's go, Mokuba..." and walked away with Mokuba following behind.

Yugi then changed to Yami, saying, "Well...I guess it's time we go and have a talk with Noah." Yami lead, while the others followed, heading straight on their way to the mansion.


	51. C51 The Gathering

C51 The Gathering

Yugi looked up and suddenly panicked. "Wait!"

Everyone stopped and stared at him.

"What's wrong, Yug?" Joey asked.

"Well, I know it's still early out...but maybe one of you should wear a disguise." Yugi said the quickly ran back into his house, and came out with an old hat and sunglasses.

Showing them to Kaiba, Yugi said, "Here, Kaiba...put this on. With your outfit, no one would think twice."

"You've got to be kidding me." Kaiba spat. "I wouldn't be seen dead in that." He then nodded towards Seto, adding, "Give your grandpa's clothes to the incompetent one. Anything has to be an improvement to what he's wearing, now."

"Hey!" Seto snapped. "What's wrong with my clothes? And why should I wear that, anyway? They're 'supposed' to know who I am!"

Mokuba smiled, saying, "Compared to the Seto of this world, Yugi...my brother's probably considered disguised, anyway."

"I guess so." Yugi said, hanging the items on his mailbox, as the others started to walk away.

As he joined with the others, Tristan gave Yugi a pat on the back, saying, "Don't worry about it, Yugi...it's the thought that counts. And Mokuba's probably right. In that get-up, Kaiba barely looks like Seto, at all."

Yugi nodded, saying, "I hope your right, Tristan. Otherwise, we could all be in trouble." Then they too joined the others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As they walked along, Tea was trying to comfort Seto. "Come on Seto, cheer up. At least you get to see Yami duel."

"Yeah, but its just not the same. I want to do something else. I don't want to just stand around and look stupid!"

"Why not? It's what you do best." Kaiba muttered.

Seto glared at him. "I heard that!"

Kaiba just shrugged, like he cared, since that was his intention in the first place.

"Forget him, Seto." Tea said.

"Yeah, Kaiba's just a jerk, anyway. Just look at it this way...at least now you can finally see Noah challenge a real duelist." Joey grinned.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean??" Seto asked, feeling offended.

Tristan slapped Seto on the shoulder, saying, "Don't worry about it. Just cuz you're not a real duelist, doesn't mean you can't get better, someday!"

"He can't get any worst..." Tea added, causing his friends to snicker around them.

"Yeah, well we'll just see who's the real duelist!" Seto snapped. "After Yami, I'm going to be the one to fight Noah, myself!"

Kaiba instantly grabbed Seto behind him, slamming him against a nearby tree. "How many times do I have to pound it into your head before you finally get it? You're not dueling Noah. If you duel Noah, you will endanger the Mokuba from this world. If you have any interest in your brother's well being, you'll leave it in the hands of someone who can actually duel!"

"Hey...maybe you were just lucky. That doesn't mean I can't beat Noah. It's not fair, I should be the one to fight for my own brother!" Seto childishly spat.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed, hissing, "You know what? You don't deserve the Mokuba from this world. You don't deserve him from any world. Not only am I going to save him, I think I'll take him back home with me. At least, that way I can actually guarantee his safety."

Everyone stopped, shocked from Kaiba's sudden proposal. Mokuba looked up equally surprised from his brother's proclamation. He also felt excited over the idea. If Mokie went home with them, he would feel like he had another brother...kinda of a twin. It would be fun. He would finally have someone to play with all the time.

"You wouldn't do that." Seto said, also not expecting such a comment.

The grin on Kaiba's face only widened more as the thought moved through Kaiba's mind. He liked the idea, too. It was actually a spur of the moment thought to try and shut Seto up, but he really liked this idea. It would guarantee Mokie would be 100 safe from Noah, and he wouldn't have to do anything rash that he was originally considering.

Seto then clearly saw it in Kaiba's eyes...he meant every word. He had to make sure to cut that idea off quick, before he lost Mokie forever. "B-but...what about Mom? If Mokie vanished like that, Mom and Dad would be so heart-broken...and so would Angie."

And to help reinforce her brother's words, Angie also came over, grasping Kaiba's arm. "Please, Seto...don't take my brother away from us!"

Kaiba's jaw clenched, knowing after that...he wouldn't be able to do it. Even though he could care less over Seto's problems, Mokie's disappearance would definitely upset Angie and their parents. He couldn't do it to them.

Mokuba also felt guilty that he even considered that to be a good idea. He would never want to hurt anyone. But, there were times he felt so lonely...

Finally, Kaiba shoved Seto away, saying, "If you don't want that to happen, then you better not do anything stupid to put him in danger. Don't think I wont do it, if I feel he's better off somewhere else."

Kaiba then turned and continued on his way, Mokuba following behind and soon the others also joining.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Since they still had to walk a bit to reach the Kaiba mansion, Mokuba glanced behind him to see Angie still looking upset. She probably had a lot to be upset about. First, Kaiba told her she meant nothing to him, and then he was threatening to take her new brother away from them.

Mokuba then glared at Seto, mentally blaming him. For some reason, Seto had continually been saying things to make his brother angry...this was all his fault. So, Mokuba decided maybe he could do something about that. He then looked up at Kaiba, and said, "I'm gonna talk to the other Seto for a minute."

Kaiba silently nodded, not sure why Mokuba wanted to talk to him, but trusting his brother, nonetheless.

Mokuba moved back to the others, grabbed Seto, saying, "I want to talk to you." and then continued to let them fall back behind the others, so no one else would hear. It confused the others, but they didn't interfere.

"What's up?" Seto asked, smiling down at Mokuba.

Mokuba said, "I don't know what this fight between you and my brother is about. But I want you to stop it. You hurt your own sister twice now because of it."

"This isn't my fault! This is Kaiba's fault!" Seto snapped.

"You purposely keep pushing his buttons!" Mokuba snapped. "And earlier when you told Angie that Seto didn't care, you had no right to do that to her."

"I was just letting her know the truth." Seto said.

"No you weren't." Mokuba said. "You knew Seto would lie, and made him say it, anyway. That wasn't nice."

Seto replied, "Hey, I wouldn't talk about lying, if I were you. It doesn't take a business genius like your brother to know you were lying through your teeth earlier about all those other Kaiba's. Whatever danger you were in, you obviously kept most of that out. So, what's up with that?"

It was a direct change of subject, something his own brother was very good at doing when he didn't want to be cornered. But it worked like charm. Mokuba paled, after hearing that...not expecting that Seto would figure that out. And if Seto caught it, then no doubt his brother realized it, as well. Mokuba looked down, saying, "It would only make Seto upset, and I didn't want to make him angry."

"What happened over there...for real?" Seto asked.

Mokuba hesitated, looking up at Seto, considering if he should hide it from him, as well. But unlike Kaiba, Seto seemed safer. He wouldn't get upset like his brother would. He wouldn't feel personal guilt over something that wasn't his fault. He wouldn't want to get even with the world, because of something that was beyond everyone's control.

Mokuba nodded and decided to tell him everything. And after he explained everything to him, it felt so good to get it all off his chest, without fear of what this information could cause.

"Wow...that guy sounds even more psycho than your brother." he joked, but shut up when Mokuba didn't look too happy. "Uh...it was just a joke."

"No it wasn't." Mokuba said. "And the worst part about it is that my brother was once like that."

"What?" Seto asked, shocked. Even if Kaiba seemed cruel at times, Mokuba was always the most important thing in his life. It was hard to fathom that Kaiba could do or say anything to hurt Mokuba, like DTKaiba did.

"It wasn't his fault." Mokuba said. "It was Gozaburo's fault. We didn't have Noah in our world. But, Gozaburo was just as bad, if not worst. Even after our stepfather was dead, it was too late for Seto. He had found a way to take just about every part of my brother that was ever nice. It's all Seto knew how to be was mean and uncaring." Mokuba looked down at the ground in sadness. "It was also my fault. Our mother died because I was born. Our father died because our mother was gone. Seto went through all this, because..."

"Stop it." Seto snapped. "You can't blame yourself for being born, that your brother became a jerk. So, if he turned into that monster that was trying to take over your world, how did he end up being at least partially human?"

Mokuba glared at him for the comment towards his brother, but answered anyway, "Yugi had to shatter his heart with the puzzle. He was in a coma for a few weeks, as he picked up the pieces and started over. He became what you see him like now...but, it's not fair! Why shouldn't I blame myself for this? I have living proof right in front of me of how my Seto could be like if I was never around! You're happy, you smile a lot, you have friends and family. Maybe it would be better off if we left Mokie in that mansion. It seems no matter what world I'm in, I still end up getting captured and used against you."

Seto put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder, saying, "I don't think you're brother would like you putting yourself down like that. I know I don't like it. We're going to free this other you, not just because you're my new brother...but because you're worth it."

Mokuba looked up at him as he smiled down at Mokuba. "I'm only sorry that I can't be the one to set you free."

"Thanks." Mokuba said, and smiled back at him. "I guess I needed that."

"Now, go on up before your brother starts to get jealous that you're with me." Seto said, and watched Mokuba run back loyally to his brother.

And as Mokuba ran up, the smile on Seto's face became a frown. Mokie was in that mansion suffering from Noah. And if Mokie was anything like Mokuba, then the kid was blaming himself and wishing he were dead so he wouldn't be a burden to Seto. 'You're wrong, Mokie. I'm going to save you. And I'm going to prove to you that you're worth it.'

It was in fact a weird understanding that hit Seto, after he and Mokuba had talked. The torment that Mokie was going through...it should have been him. Seto was the one that was tortured in Mokuba's world and because of it, it made him into Kaiba. And what turned Kaiba into a cold-hearted bastard in Kaiba's world, ended up breaking Mokie in his world, turning him into the mute slave they knew today.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Once they got close enough, Kaiba directed them to continue to the mansion. Then he and Mokuba slipped away to the side, totally out of sight.

Kaiba made sure both phones worked, and that they were given the right numbers. He then said. "I'll keep the phone on vibrate. Only call if you see someone I don't, or if you're in danger. Otherwise, I should be doing all the calling."

"Don't worry, Seto...I'll watch your back." Mokuba said. He then paused, and said, "Uh...but what if I call you inside the mansion and you don't pick up. Should I warn the others?"

"No. Under no circumstances are you to involve them in this." Kaiba said. "If I don't pickup, I'm probably just occupied with something. This phone gives messages on the phone numbers I don't answer. So, I'll simply call back when I can. Keep your phone on vibrate, as well. I don't want the ringer to give you away."

"Okay." Mokuba said.

Mokuba then stayed hidden on high ground as he watched his brother slip down towards the mansion. 'Good luck, Seto.' Mokuba thought, realizing he didn't ask his brother if he planned on doing anything else. Whatever it was...he hoped it wasn't dangerous.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As the doorbell rang, the security officer answered it and was surprised to see the entire group in front of the mansion door. "You're a bit early." the guard said. "Master Noah is not expecting anyone until 8:00 sharp."

"We are not here for Seto, just yet!" Yami cried out dramatically. "If Noah wants to battle Seto, he is first going to have to challenge me!"

"That wasn't part of the deal." the security blandly stated.

"Why don't we let that be Noah's decision? Or perhaps your master's afraid to challenge me in a duel?" Yami asked.

The security sighed, and replied, "Wait here." He closed the door to go speak with Noah.

As he did, Yami crossed his hands triumphantly with a huge smirk on his face, as if he had just won a duel. His friends eyed him curiously as he stood, patiently waiting. There was something about him that left them hesitant to this plan. Perhaps it was the glint in his eye that made Yami look raring for a fight, or the fact that Yami never questioned Kaiba's change in plans even once about him facing Noah. Or perhaps his voice sounded almost too determined to start this distraction.

But, it seemed to them that Yami possibly wanted to do this duel as more than just a mere distraction. Yami was playing to win.

'_Yami...we are just doing this as a distraction, right?'_ Yugi asked him.

'_But, of course, Yugi. And if we happen to win this duel as well, then we can also finally avenge you and your grandfather for all the trouble Noah has caused.' _Yami answered.

Yugi was suddenly worried._ 'But, we're just supposed to be a distraction! What if our victory causes more complications with saving Mokuba??'_

'_I don't see that being a problem.'_ Yami answered. _'Besides, even though I have confidence in Kaiba's victory, if there is a chance he fails...Noah will then have one more disgraceful defeat to still content with. He will have to deal with us!'_

Yugi sighed, hoping this wasn't going to blow up in anyone's faces.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Master Noah...everyone has arrived, and Yugi Motou demands to fight you first." the security reported.

Noah looked to him, and asked, "Are you sure it's everyone? Is Seto there, too?"

"Yes, sir." the guard answered.

"Good...at least they're not trying anything." Noah said, looking into the mirror and making sure his hair looked perfect. "What insolence. Now, that they don't have my blackmail over their heads, Yugi thinks he can just show up and challenge me? Seto's actions have made them think they can walk all over me. But, it wont be much longer now before I once again put them all back in their place. I'll make them all pay for daring to humiliate me!"

"What should we do with them, sir?" the security asked.

"Don't worry...I'll play Yugi's little game, if only to remind him who is the grand champion. Then after crushing both him and Seto, I will make them wish they never challenged me in the first place!" Noah snapped.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had made it to the secret door to enter the mansion, when his phone vibrated. Instinctly, he whirled to see a guard about to strike and took him out quick and hard. Kaiba then picked up the phone, saying, "Thanks."

"Be careful, Seto! There might be more that I can't see!" Mokuba said.

Kaiba had seen the two guards making their pattern rounds. He knocked one out and avoided the other. But, he didn't expect one to come out to let the others know they had company. That's when he was seen. He quickly tied the latest guard up with his own belt and tossed him into a nearby bush. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm going in."

"Okay." Mokuba replied, hoping his brother would be okay.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Well well...look what we have here." Noah said, grinning at the group. He was pleased to see just how anxious they were to challenge him again, that they would actually show up 2 hours early. And here he thought after Seto had beaten him, they would ignore him without offering threats and kidnapping to draw them out.

"And what makes you think I'd find anyone else worthy to battle, except Seto?" Noah asked. He looked over at Seto, saying, "So...since you're here, are you ready to face me, now?"

Seto so badly wanted to jump up and accept Noah's challenge. The only thing that kept him from not insisting to battle Noah was Kaiba's threat to forever take his brother away from him, and that angered Seto more than anything. 'He has some nerve threatening to kidnap my brother. How can he stand there and claim that he's the better brother, after Mokuba told me that he was once as bad as that other psycho Kaiba?? He didn't give a damn about his brother at one time! We'll see who's unfit...'

Fortunately, Seto's stewing allowed Yami the time to answer first for him. He immediately brought his arm up to keep Seto from speaking, as he announced, "I have all ready said if you want to fight Seto, you have to challenge me, first."

"Is that a threat?" Noah asked. "You dare threaten me? Maybe you have forgotten who you are facing, Yugi!"

"I know exactly who I am facing!" Yami boomed. "I am facing a coward who was so afraid to fight me before, he had to blackmail my grandfather to keep me silenced. Well, no more, Noah! I am going to battle to return his honor you have stolen from him!"

Angie nudged Seto at the moment, snapping him out of his pouting fit, as she whispered, "Wow...I didn't know Yami could act that well. He makes his challenge sound so real."

Seto whispered back, "I don't think he's acting, Angie."

Angie then looked back over at the two arguing, suddenly concerned.

"How dare you call me a coward! Fine, you want to know the real reason I blackmailed you, Yugi? It's because I was sick of you nobodies always bothering me with these pathetic nothing challenges. You and your sad little group are nothing to me, and I was tired of you people wasting my time!" Noah spat.

But, Yami simply responded with a smirk, as he replied, "Well, obviously we weren't too much of a waste of time, since Seto had successfully defeated you, all ready. Perhaps my challenging you wont take as long to gain a victory as it did for Seto."

Noah scowled at that. "Fine, you want to challenge me, then I'll accept your pathetic challenge. Just because Seto got lucky does not mean any nobody can simply take me down. Maybe after defeating you, Seto will finally understand just how hopeless his next duel with me will be!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had made it in the building. After knocking out another guard, slipping through more security alarms and making it to the right hall, he was now in view of his destination.

There were just some things, even in another universe, that didn't change. His stepfather's master room was one of them.

Kaiba picked up the cell phone and dialed his brother back. "It's me." he whispered.

"Seto, why did it take so long for you to call back? Did you get the other me, yet?" Mokuba asked.

"Not yet." Kaiba said. "There's been a change of plans." he added, even though for him it was never a change. He intended on doing this all along. "I'm going to find Gozaburo first and have a heart to heart talk with him. I'll get the other you out, as soon as I'm done."

"What? You can't do that!" Mokuba protested. "What are you thinking! If you face Gozaburo, you're going to let people know you're in there!"

"If I don't see Gozaburo, then any deal I make in our duel will have no meaning. Noah has all ready made a point that he doesn't keep his agreements, and Gozaburo has more to lose for going back on a deal than his son does. I might not be able to convince his brat kid to keep a deal...but I know I can convince him. The other Mokuba has to be kept safe after I'm gone, somehow...this is the only way. I'll get him out when I'm done." Kaiba said.

Mokuba stated, "You planned on doing this all along, didn't you?" When Kaiba didn't answer, Mokuba added, "But, Seto...you wont have enough time. Yami can only stall for so long, and we only have till 8. If you're not out before then, then Seto will have to battle for you."

"Don't worry...I'll be out before they're done."

Kaiba hung up and once again faced Gozaburo's door. He hated to do this, but he feared if he didn't get out in time, he would have to leave Mokie there until after the duel. Making the deal become more important. This deal could ensure that the other Mokuba would not only be let free, but this time stay free. He was certain Yugi's group would have never gone along with this plan, since this meant not saving Mokie. And when he's done with everything, they would probably all look at him like he was selling out his brother for a game or a business deal. But, that's why he was the only one that could do it. He had to accept this rationally and see it through.

Besides...it's not like it would be the first time he had committed crimes against his brother.

Kaiba now marched towards his stepfather's office, once again prepared to bargain with the man.


	52. C52 Agreements

C52 Agreements 

"Hahahahahaha!!" Noah laughed, as he shuffled his deck, prepared to duel. "I have to admit, Seto...you're idea of having the little people battle me first is so much more amusing. This way, I get to see the hateful look on your face after I crush Yugi, just before I get to battle you. And don't think you're coming out of this any better, this time. You only got lucky because I was careless to let my guard down. This time, I'm going to crush you like the worthless insect you are!"

Seto gritted his teeth, listening to Noah's boastful ramblings. How many times did he have to listen to the guy sneer and humiliate him? And every time, Noah had successfully bashed him down. He wished just once he would be able to be the one to knock Noah down to size. But he couldn't. He lacked the experience, he lacked the ability, and he lacked the decent cards to do the job. Even his newly claimed 3 Blue Eyes wouldn't be enough without the proper cards to help him protect his dragons. And he just didn't have them long enough to know how to properly use them.

"It's not wise to count out your opponent at the starting of a match. It's far too early in the game." Yami stated as he whipped out a card. "I summon my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode, and place two cards face down."

"A Celtic Guardian? I remember that card the last time we fought, which was how long ago? You don't really change you're cards much, do you? What a pathetic card. I'd be doing you a favor to crush it. But, don't worry, it'll be gone soon enough." Noah smiled, as he began his strategy.

Seto also felt it wasn't fair that Yami even had a chance to fight Noah, while he didn't. He couldn't stay here much longer without going crazy, or demanding to duel Noah, himself. He had to get out of here.

Seto then glanced around, noticing the guards that were here were standing around bored, or watching Noah. None of which were actually paying attention to them. Obviously, the group wasn't considered to be a threat.

So, Seto slipped closer to Joey, and whispered, "Psst! Hey...ya wanna split?"

"What?" Joey whispered back.

Seto gave a mischievous smirk, saying, "Let's go check out Mokuba and see how they're doing."

"That aint the plan!" Joey whispered, also now eyeing the guards who were too dumb to notice. "Kaiba will be pissed if we don't listen."

"Since when do we listen to some stupid Kaiba?" Seto added, elbowing him. "No one will notice, Yami will be fine. Let's go check it out. We can always just come back."

"All right, but just to see what's up then we'll come right back, right?" Joey said. Seto nodded enthusiastically, and they quietly slipped away, as the battle continued.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I hope I'm not disturbing you."

Gozaburo looked up to see some cocky looking teenage punk leaning against his expensive mahogany door frame, after opening the door without knocking. He scowled, saying, "Noah has some nerve letting some punk wander into my office. Get out of here before I call security."

"I don't think you understand, old man. Noah didn't let me in here. I let myself in." Kaiba calmly replied, not making a move to approach or leave. He made himself known to Gozaburo. He didn't want the guy thinking he was some petty burglar coming in to attack him, nor show himself as a coward and move away. If the man wanted him gone, he'd have to do it through words.

It was a good thing Gozaburo was always so over-confident. There were no guards, no security, the door wasn't even locked. And that was so typical of his stepfather. That is...until Kaiba proved to be his enemy, encouraging him to enforce securer measures for himself before his eventual demise.

Gozaburo narrowed his eyes at the kid, trying to figure him out. If he was some kind of assassin, he would have moved forward to attack. If he was a thief, he wouldn't let himself be known. The kid obviously wanted something, but what? "You couldn't have made it passed my security. I would have gotten a..."

Suddenly his pager beeped, as a security guard stated, "Sir, we found one of the guards unconscious and tied up. Do you want us to reinforce security and search the grounds?" Again Gozaburo looked at Kaiba, who seemed to smirk in amusement. "No...I don't think that will be necessary. I'll keep you informed."

Gozaburo clicked off, and said, "How many of you are there?"

"Just me." Kaiba calmly answered. "Obviously, you don't seem to know who I am, so I'll introduce myself to you. The name is Seto Yagakamiya...the one that defeated your son in that public duel."

Gozaburo nodded, stating, "So, you're the punk that beat my kid. You certainly got balls, Seto. So, why are you here, now?"

"You may not be aware of this, but your son hasn't been living up to his end of the deal. So, I decided to go over his head and find someone more worthy to make my arrangements with." Kaiba said.

Gozaburo laughed, "And what makes you think I'd waste my time with some common classed nobody, like yourself? I could care less what you and my son do with each other!"

"Well, you should care. After all, thanks to Noah...you're presently harboring someone against his will in the mansion, who just happens to be my new brother. I really don't think you want me to get the media involved to get him back. I assumed you'd want to do it more quietly and peacefully." Kaiba said, watching Gozaburo's reaction very carefully.

Gozaburo hesitated, as he just stared at Kaiba. It was obvious to Kaiba that the old man was stalling for time. It seemed Kaiba was right, and Gozaburo really didn't know that Noah had dragged Mokie back to the mansion. He turned away and puffed on his cigar, saying, "That's quite an accusation, Seto. Are you really sure you could prove that? After all, my son might have simply invited him to play. And if Mokuba decided to tell the media he was only here as a friend, then you'd be the one made a fool of."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Kaiba asked. "You thought your mansion was pretty invincible as well. Yet, here I am. Besides...what do you really have to lose? If anything, you probably have more to gain from this."

"Go on." Gozaburo stated, flicking his ashes into the ash tray.

"I'm sure Noah's defeat at a simple game didn't make him look very impressive on the news, some days ago. He can make up for that loss if he can defeat me in a duel." Kaiba said.

"And what will he get from that victory?" Gozaburo asked. "He seems to miss that toy you call a brother." he grinned. "Let's say he wins...then he could regain the rights to have him back. Your family can even sign him over."

Gozaburo grinned at Kaiba's frown, feeling he was gaining the upper hand. If there's one thing Gozaburo enjoyed, it's making an arrangement with someone that can really hurt that person in the end. Obviously, Mokie seemed to be the main interest on both sides. So, he would use that against him. Besides...for some reason, his son liked keeping that toy. And if he could prove himself, then there was no reason for Gozaburo to not let his son have his own way.

Kaiba snapped, "I all ready made a point to your son that Mokuba would not be made as a bargaining chip."

"Perhaps...but, you're not dealing with Noah, this time. You're dealing with me." Gozaburo grinned, taking another puff on his cigar. "If you want to play in the big time, kid...you have to make bigger gambles. Besides, if you don't accept and try to run...what's to keep me from calling my guards and having you both kidnapped? You should be honored that I am offering you with such charity."

"I don't run from anything!" Kaiba snapped.

Gozaburo added, "And I don't make deals for my son that he can't possibly benefit from. Obviously, Noah seems to like Mokuba. And if he doesn't have a chance to get him back, then I don't see a reason to bother with this deal."

"All right." Kaiba said, accepting what is being said. "But, only if you can accept my terms for this deal."

The man laughed at Kaiba, pleased to hear his response. "So, you're accepting, then. Good. To be honest, I never knew there could be anyone as ruthless as my own son, to be willing to gamble with his own brother. You're a kid after my own heart, Seto. If you can agree to my terms, then I should be more than willing to accept these terms of yours."

There was a knot in Kaiba's throat hearing Gozaburo say that. He was right...Kaiba felt no better than his stepfather, bargaining over his brother like that. But, it had to be done. And he wouldn't second-guess himself if he would lose. He would not lose...he would win, and save Mokuba in this world. Noah didn't stand a chance.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seto and Joey were sneaking around the grounds, trying to find Mokuba, when they heard a familiar whisper and followed it.

"Dammit, Seto...answer!" Mokuba silently grumbled, as he called his brother's phone for the third time. He didn't know what to do and was 1/2 tempted to go sneaking into the mansion himself to try and rescue his other self.

"Hey!" Seto called, causing Mokuba to suddenly jump a few feet in the air. He then scolded, "Don't do that! I thought you were a guard..."

"Sorry..." Seto said. "So, how's your brother doing?"

Mokuba looked down, not looking too happy.

Joey became wide-eyed, and spat, "Don't tell me he's been captured!"

"No, nothing like that. But... he's not going after the other Mokuba." Mokuba said.

"What??" Seto asked. "What do you mean, he's not after Mokie??"

"He went to talk to Gozaburo. He seems to think if he made a deal with him, it would be better to do then rescue the other me, right now. But, I'm not sure if he's going to get out of there and get the other me in time before 8." Mokuba said.

"That bastard!" Seto blurted and Joey jumped and shoved his hand in front of his mouth quick.

"Ssshhhh!! Keep it quiet!" Joey whispered.

More quietly now, Seto hissed, "How the hell can he do that? He never said any of this to us!"

Mokuba shook his head. "I don't know. Again, he seems to think what he's doing is the better way."

"Well, right now...I don't give a shit what he thinks! If he's not going to save Mokie, then I am!" Seto spat.

Joey grabbed him before he could leave, saying, "You can't go in there! You heard what he originally said about traps and shit!"

"Well, I'm certainly not leaving him there, either!" Seto hissed.

Joey then turned to Mokuba, saying, "Hey...you live in that mansion in your world, right?"

"Uh...yeah." Mokuba replied.

"Then, you can probably figure that place out, too!" Joey said. "So, you can lead us around. Then if any guards come near, we can kick their asses!"

"Well...that's fine and all. But, what if Seto tries to get the other me back and can't find him cuz we all ready got him?" Mokuba asked. "In our attempt to help Seto, we might only end up delaying him more!"

Seto smiled, saying, "Just text message him on the phone and let him know. That way, he gets the message that we're after him. And if we find him first, we'll let him know if we do."

"It may not be a good thing to be telling Seto that." Mokuba grinned.

Seto spat, "Seeing that he just abandoned my brother, as far as I'm concerned he can kiss my ass!"

Mokuba nodded, saying, "I'll text him."

"Good, then let's go!" Seto said, and was immediately ready to go forward and charge into the mansion, until Joey quickly grabbed him.

Joey snapped, "Hey, dumbass...you forgetting something?"

"No...you guys are coming, right?" Seto asked.

"Yeah, but someone who knows the place gotta lead!" Joey retorted, making Seto suddenly look very sheepish.

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." he chuckled. "Uh...you go first, Mokuba."

Mokuba shook his head, muttering, "I finished text-messaging him. Hopefully, he'll get the message. So, let's go!"

With that said, Mokuba led his way to the basement. He could only hope they didn't get caught. If that happened, everything they were doing to get Mokie back would become a failure.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As they got closer to the mansion, Kaiba continued to deal with Gozaburo on the contract. He could feel a buzzing on his cell phone from the text message that came in. But, he ignored it...assuming it was just Mokuba once again trying to get a hold of him.

He would call him after he was finished with what he was doing here. Nothing would stop him from making a signed contract that would guarantee the other Mokuba's safety, even if it meant dealing with the devil, himself. Even if it meant signing this agreement would probably make everyone in this world hate him before he left. That didn't matter...only Mokuba's safety did, and he was the only one for the job.


	53. C53 Searching for Mokie & Yami vs Noah

**C53 Searching for Mokie & Yami vs Noah**

"Okay guys, stay close." Mokuba said. "Seto went this way so it'll be the safest way in, since he's probably already taken care of any guards that would normally be there."

As they were walking, Mokuba tried to figure out what area they were keeping Mokie in. Most of the bedrooms were upstairs, but the holding cells were several floors down. He had to guess that Mokie was probably in a cell since Noah was so angry for him leaving the mansion in the past, which would mean he would be down in the basement cells. So, they would have to go down there and hope the cost would be clear once they got that far.

Mokuba was so lost in thought at trying to think of where Mokie could be, that he noticed too late that he walked right through an alarm. He froze, causing the others to almost run right into him.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" Joey said in hushed whispers. "We almost ran you over. Something wrong?"

'That's strange.' he thought. 'Nothing happened. Seto must have found the main alarm control and turned everything off. That'll make things a lot easier.'

"Sorry...it's nothing." Mokuba quietly muttered back and they kept going.

They quickly made it inside the mansion. Mokuba opened the door and peaked around the hall, seeing no one around. He then came into the hall and waved for them to follow.

But as they began to creep down the hall, they heard voices from a couple guards approaching. Quickly, Mokuba whipped open another door, shoving Seto and Joey into a nearby room, and immediately closing the door up in hopes that they weren't found out.

As they stood fearfully behind the door trying to control the noise of their own breaths, they heard the guards stop right in front of the door, and could hear his conversation as he spoke over the walkie-talkie. "Brent, it's Dayton. A couple of the kids that came to watch Master Noah's duel have disappeared!"

"WHAT? Why haven't I heard anything about this?!"

"You crazy? I'm not going to report that! If Master Noah finds out we let them slip away unnoticed, we'll all be in big trouble!"

"So, what do we do?"

"I've already got a few others quietly searching. I need you to keep watch over Mokuba's room. If anything happens and he disappears, Master Noah will have our hides!"

"Understood. We'll take care of it on our end. You just better make sure to find those kids."

Mokuba listened as the guards walked away.

Joey whispered, "Shit! Now, what we gonna do!"

"Everyone's gonna be looking for us, now!" Seto also whispered, sounding panicked.

Mokuba nodded, "I know it sounds bad...but it could be good, too. If we follow the guards, they can lead us right to where your Mokuba's being kept."

"Yeah...but we're also gonna have ta find a way to get through 'em, too." Joey added.

Seto stated, "Let's worry about that, after we find him. Mokuba's right...those guards will lead us right to Mokie. Let's just go with that."

"Okay." Joey said.

They slowly slipped out the door, and cautiously followed the guards from a far distance in order to find Mokie.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Yami's Obnoxious Celtic Guardian turned out to be far more trouble than Noah had originally anticipated. He assumed it was his normal Celtic Guardian, not anticipating the special affect that this newer version had. It placed an awkward window that his monster had to be within 1450 and 1700 attack points in order to take him out, which was not the easiest number to get to. Yami also made sure to protect his monster with cards to counter against trap and magic cards, when Noah got sick of trying to find a monster that would remove him from the field.

But, finally Noah was getting the upper hand. He had used Dark Hole to remove all monsters from the field, then used a Fusion to summon a powerful monster quickly.

"Fortunately for you, I have to wait this turn to attack. Not like it will matter any." Noah sneered.

But Yami still showed confidence, as he said, "Don't think removing my monster is enough to totally count me out of the duel. It's time I bring another monster to the field, using Monster Reborn. Come forth my Dark Magician!"

"What??" Noah exclaimed. "You're telling me when you discarded earlier, you cast away your Dark Magician?? But, why would you discard such a powerful monster?"

"Let's just say I anticipated your attack." Yami smirked.

'He's gotten better.' Noah frowned. 'Perhaps it was good to keep him from dueling all this time. But, now I guess it's time to take it up a notch...'

"Not if I use this!" Noah grinned, flipping one of his cards. "I cancel out your Monster Reborn, preventing your magician from coming onto the field."

"Oh, no! A Magic Jammer!" Yami thought in concern. Noah had stopped his favorite card from coming onto the field at the moment. For now, he had no choice but to go onto the defensive. "I summon a monster in defense mode, and end my turn."

"_This isn't looking good, Yami. I think Noah's still too strong."_ Yugi told him in concern.

"_We can do this. Have faith, Yugi." Yami told him. "We will avenge your grandpa."_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You sure he's not going to notice us?" Joey asked quietly.

Seto whispered back, "He will if you don't shut your big mouth!"

"Shhh!" Mokuba said. Even though these two were supposedly best friends in this world, they still fought with each other. Plus, when they were both around each other, it seemed nothing could keep them from shutting up. Mokuba only hoped that having them together wouldn't give themselves away.

He then over-heard Joey asked, "Hey...what's this?"

To Mokuba's horror, Joey had found an odd-looking hole in the wall, and was waving his hand in font of it over and over.

Mokuba grabbed his hand and pulled it away quickly, quietly snapping, "That's an alarm!"

"You idiot!" Seto said in hushed words.

"It aint my fault! How the hell am I supposed to know!" Joey said back quietly. "So...does that we're toast?"

"No." Mokuba said. "Nothing happened. There should have been an alarm. I noticed earlier we went passed an alarm that didn't look like it was on." Actually, Mokuba ran through it, but didn't want to admit his mistake. "From what I can tell, I'd say that Seto must have disarmed all the alarms. They're inter-connected into one system, so Seto must have found the master control."

"That sounds complicated...he must be pretty good at this stuff." Joey said.

"Big deal." Seto huffed, sounding jealous again.

"Well, just remember...this isn't my world. For all I know, there might be some alarms that are on a separate system. So, if you see anything like that, try and avoid them! We gotta be more careful. Besides...it'll only be a matter of time before someone finds out and reactivates the system." Mokuba added.

Seto stated, "So, what you're saying is not to count on what your brother did...as usual."

"Stop trying to put down my brother!" Mokuba argued.

Seto retorted, "Well, if your great and wonderful brother did his job, we wouldn't have to be here, right now!"

"What are you complaining about...you wanted to do this in the first place. Well, now you are!" Joey said.

Seto sulked and replied, "Who asked you, anyway?"

"We don't have time for this...let's go!" Mokuba stated.

They continued on. As they move, Seto believed that he had heard something and turned to see another guard. He gasps, and whispers, "There's another guard...we gotta hide!"

"In here!" Mokuba says.

They quickly duck into another nearby room and closes the door, just as a guard comes into the hallway looking around confused, since he was sure he'd heard something.

He goes to the door they are behind and tries to open it, but it's locked.

'Hmph...must have been my imagination.' he thought, and soon leaves.

Only after he walked away, do they all exhale the breath they were holding. "This is getting too close." Joey whispered.

"Come on...let's keep going. We can't lose those other guards." Mokuba says as they once again continue to follow the other two.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba calmly watches as Gozaburo looks over the contract, once again pulling his pen up to add or edit something else.

As he does, Kaiba pulls out the phone and flipped it open to confirm it was Mokuba's number. Instead he notices it was a text message that read, "Me, Joey, and Seto went to get the other Mokuba. Will call again when we got him."

'Shit!' he thought, realizing what his brother had just done. Given...from the time on his phone, there would be no way that he would be able to duel and get Mokie out in time. But if his brother was caught, it could ruin everything that he had worked on.

'Damn it, Mokuba...why couldn't you just wait?' Kaiba thought. But seeing who his companions were, he knew they were probably to blame. And if those two were with his brother, that would make his chances to succeed practically nil.

But, Kaiba had to stay in control...he couldn't let himself look anxious or Gozaburo would know something was amiss. He inwardly sighed, knowing he was stuck there, as he thought, 'If Mokuba gets in danger because of those two loser, I'll make them pay. And knowing those morons, I'm probably going to have to save all four of them.'

Then re-thinking that, he decided, 'Or maybe just two of them. After all...if Seto and Wheeler end up getting themselves in trouble, he and that mutt can get themselves out of it, as well.'

But the main concern Kaiba had was if Mokuba was caught, they were going to realize there's more than 2, and possibly blow up everything he's trying to do. Then again...leaving Seto there might cause the same problem.


	54. C54 The Rescue

**C54 The Rescue**

Mokuba, Joey, and Seto managed to (by some miracle if you asked Mokuba) follow the guard to Mokie's room.

They were presently trying to keep hidden from the guard keeping watch, and had barely been there 2 seconds before Seto already began to show his impatience.

"We can't just stay here and hide all day and hope the guard walks away." Seto quietly argued. "We have to do something! We don't have a heck of a lot of time left!"

"I know that." Mokuba whispered. But the fact of the matter was...he wasn't sure what to do. His plan only went as far as following the guard to reach Mokie quicker. After that, he didn't really have a plan.

"I'm not sure what to do." Mokuba admitted. "This guy looks kinda tough. He might be too strong to handle on our own. If my big brother was here, I know he wouldn't have any problem taking him down."

Mokuba then looked over at Seto, saying, "I'm sorry, Seto...I just don't think you can handle it."

Seto of course was immediately insulted by this, and childishly argued with the 12 year old, "Yes I can!!"

Even Joey rolled his eyes at that amazing response.

"No you can't!" Mokuba quietly spat. "My big brother could wipe the floor with you, without even trying. There's no way you could stand a chance against this guy!"

Seto was shaking, and it looked like he was just about to jump away from the cover of the wall and attempt to tackle the guy right then and there, if it wasn't for Joey grabbing him and quickly yanking him back before the guard noticed him.

"Hey, hold up a minute." Joey said. He turned to Mokuba, saying, "No problem, kid...he's just one guy. Me and Seto here can just take him out together. That creep don't stand a chance!"

"I don't know…" Mokuba said, still not so sure.

"I know!" Seto said, suddenly having what he thought to be an amazing idea. "I have the perfect plan!"

"Uh-oh." Mokuba thought, worried.

"Mokuba...you can be a distraction, making it seem like Mokie escaped! And then while you lure him away, we can get Mokie out of there!" Seto grinned, seeming so proud of himself.

Joey then knocked on Seto's head, saying, "Hey, genius...I think you forgot one thing. How we gonna save Mokuba, here? Then he gets captured, and Kaiba kills you!"

"Once we get Mokie, we can both jump that guard and take him out, just like you said!" he retorted. Seto then turned to Mokuba, asking, "So, what do you think? Do you think you can handle it?"

Mokuba actually liked the idea. It actually involved him in the rescue instead of being a tour guide. The outlay of the place was still the same, and was quite sure he could probably give the guard the slip on his own, without needing their help. But, most importantly he could be a part of the adventure instead of being protected all the time...he could prove himself to everyone. He looked back to them and nodded, saying, "Okay, let's do it!"

"Be careful." Joey warned him. "You can't let the guard catch ya." Joey said.

Mokuba grinned confidently, saying, "He won't know what hit him! You two just get the other Mokuba out."

Once the plan was set, Mokuba casually walked out into the hallway, looking around like he was lost, muttering out loud, "Huh? How did I get back here?"

He then turned and seemed to spot the guard, just as the guard turned hearing a voice and noticed him.

The guard jumped in surprise, exclaiming, "Hey! How did you get out of your room?!!"

Mokuba looked instantly panicked, and ran for it. The guard immediately chased after him, abandoning his post.

"Damn, he's good." Seto whispered. "You'd think he rehearsed it."

"He's gone, let's go!" Joey said, and they snuck into the hall as soon as the two were completely out of sight.

They made it to the door, making Seto so happy that he would finally be able to save his new little brother. His hand moved to the door, and then...it didn't move.

"Oh, shit...it's locked!" he said. "How the hell do we get in there, now?"

"Relax..." Joey said, moving Seto aside. "Let the pro's do their job."

Seto crossed his arms to see what his brilliant friend was going to attempt, this time. Joey pulled out some random things from his pocket...a penny, lint, an old button, and a paper clip. He kept the paper clip and put the rest back. Then bending it up, he shoved it into the lock.

Seto shook his head, and sighed. "Come on, Joey...this aint the movies. That's never gonna..."

Click!

Joey grinned at him as Seto stood there with his jaw on the floor. "How the hell did you do that?"

"What...you forgot when I was busted for breaking into that guy's house once?" Joey asked.

Seto replied, "Well, yeah...but when you said you had an expert lock-picking technique, I thought you meant kicking the door in!"

"Well...yeah. That works, too." Joey snickered, and opened the door.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokie had been curled into a corner in the room for sometime.

After Noah had gotten him back, he made certain to punish him severely. The bruise marks were still on his body from the beating he had received.

Mokie by this time had already given up hope long ago. He knew it was a mistake to ever think of leaving Noah. No one dares cross Noah without paying the price.

While laying on the floor in depression, he had heard some noises. The guard sounded like he was running after someone. He wondered what it was about, assuming they were probably hurting someone else, and prayed Noah didn't try to take it out on his friends, as well.

He then heard what sounded like someone unlocking the door, and immediately looked down in submission, assuming Noah had return and waiting for his next bit of punishment.

The door opened and footsteps now approached, making him shake in fear, knowing it was Noah and waiting for the next bit of cold words before he struck him again.

Seto rushed in, asking, "Mokie, are you...??" and quieted.

The boy looked up, seeming to be surprised from the entrance. But at first, Seto couldn't tell if it was him.

He was wearing a dog collar, and a leash that was tied to the wall. Noah had also placed a mask over his face that looked like something from Psycho.

A second later, he could tell it was Mokie from the hair and the clothes. "What did he do to you?"

"Seto!" he cried. "You shouldn't be here. Noah will hurt you, too..."

Seto rushed over to him, and held him. He was so enraged from how he looked, Mokie could feel him shaking. "No one's going to hurt anyone...not anymore." he told him.

Mokie looked up to him and smiled, tears streaming from his eyes. He couldn't believe it...Seto was really here. And it was Seto...'his' Seto. He could tell.

But...his Seto wasn't like the other one. What if his Seto got hurt from Noah? He would never forgive himself. No...he couldn't let himself escape again, and let them be punished like he was.

"No!" he suddenly cried out, trying to push him back. "Go away!"

"Geez, ya think the kid would be a little more grateful." Joey muttered.

"It's not his fault!" Seto snapped, angrily. "He's just scared."

Seto turned to Mokie and shook his shoulders slightly, "Stop it, Mokie...it's okay. We're not going to get hurt. Everything's being worked out. We either leave together, or we don't leave at all. Do you understand??"

Mokie looked down and sniffed, indicating he was crying again.

"We gotta get this thing off." Seto said, looking at Joey. "Can you do that thing to this that you did with the door?"

"Yeah...gimmee a sec." Joey said. He pulled his paper clip out again, reaching over towards Mokie, who saw something shiny and flinched away.

"Relax, kid...I aint gonna hurt ya. Just sit still." he said.

After a moment, he clicked the mask off, once again revealing Mokie's face. Seto used his clothes to dry his eyes and face as Joey now worked on the collar. "Jesus, he locked everything...didn't he?"

"We'll be out of here in a second, Mokie." Seto said, nervously looking back at the door and hoping the guard didn't come back. He impatiently turned to Joey, asking, "What's taking you so long, you dumbass!"

"I'm trying!" Joey snapped. "This damn thing's stuck or something..."

Joey finally pulled away, saying, "I can't get it off."

"Forget it!" Seto said. "We'll get it off later. Can you cut the leash? We gotta get out of here and help Mokuba, still."

Mokie looked wide-eyed at that. Mokuba was back? He was alive?? Noah didn't have him too, did he??

Joey pulled out his pocketknife, and cut Mokie free. "Let's go!" Joey said; Seto pulled Mokie with him, as he and Joey ran out the door.

Quickly, they found another door a couple rooms down, and Seto moved Mokie inside. Then grasping both shoulders, he said, "Okay, Mokie...listen. We need you to hide here. We still have to find Mokuba and make sure he's okay. Then we'll be right back for you, okay?"

Mokie was still confused by all that was happening, but he nodded his head blankly and stayed inside, as they closed the door and rushed off. Immediately after, he ducked away to keep hidden as Seto said.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

While this was happening, Mokuba was running from the guard feeling very confident with himself. What he didn't expect was how easily exhausted he became from running around. Since he was starting to feel a little better, he had forgotten this cold he had...and was quickly becoming winded. It caused him to slow enough for the guard to suddenly catch up and grab him.

Picking Mokuba up, the guard then started carrying Mokuba back, kicking and screaming the whole way.

"Shut up, brat...or I'll tell Master Noah and you'll be punished for not only trying to escape but daring to talk back!" the guard snapped.

"Go ahead, I don't care! He can't tell me what to do!" Mokuba said, still flailing around and giving this guard a heck of a time.

Personally...the guard couldn't understand it. He had never seen such rebellion in Noah's pet slave, before. It was like he was a different kid, entirely.

And as the guard turned the corner, he froze...not only seeing the door to Mokuba's room open, but Seto and Joey right outside of it, as well.

They also froze, looking at him in surprise. Their surprise also caused Seto to quickly look back to make sure Mokie was safely inside and not being noticed, before turning back to the guard.

The guard snapped, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

They looked at each other and immediately charged at the guard. But the guard dropped Mokuba, pulling out his gun and aiming it at them...causing them to stop in their tracks.

"I get it, now." he grinned. "You two must be those kids who slipped away from the duel. You got pretty lucky getting this far...but that's as far as you get!"

But the guard didn't pay attention to Mokuba, who immediately moved behind the guard and kicked as hard as he could in the back of the guy's knee.

The guard crumbled to the ground, dropping his gun and gripping his knee in pain. Joey noticed a nearby vase, and grabbed it...smashing it over the guard's head. Seto, seeing what Joey was doing, decided to repeat his friend's action, grabbing an even larger vase and doing the same...just for safe measures.

The guard was quickly out cold. They then dragged him into Mokie's room and closed the door.

Seto turned to Mokuba about to say something, but noticed him quickly leaning against the wall, not looking very well. "Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"I guess… I'm still sick." he said weakly, feeling like he could sleep for the next two days.

Seto nodded and turned to Joey, "You carry Mokuba...I'll go get Mokie."

"It's okay, I'm fine." Mokuba mumbled.

"You sure don't look it, to me." Seto said. "We have to get out of here quick, and we can't take the chance of you collapsing on us, and maybe getting captured again."

"Me captured?" Mokuba smiled weakly. "That never happens."

It was a personal shot at his own expense, since being captured seemed to almost be a natural for him. Sadly, it was wasted on two people that didn't know his history.

Instead, Joey bent down, saying, "Here, kid...get on my back."

Mokuba nodded, feeling too crappy to argue. And he didn't want to be a burden to anyone more than he was already becoming. So, he accepted and did as Joey said.

They quickly ran down the hall, and Seto whipped the door open to where they had hid him. He was hidden quite well out of sight, since he still didn't see him, and quietly called, "It's okay now, Mokie...you can come out now."

Mokie poked his head out from hiding, then walked over to Seto. He then looked up, and blinked in surprise seeing Mokuba on Joey's back. Suddenly, he smiled and ran over to him and did his best to hug him, surprising everyone.

"You're okay! I was so worried when you disappeared...I was afraid you died!" Mokie cried.

Mokuba was confused on so many levels from this other Mokuba's response, but chose for the moment not to question it. "I'm fine."

"Come on, Mokie...we have to get out of here!" Seto said.

Mokie nodded. Then ran over and grabbed Seto's hand. They ran, hoping to get out the same way they came in. But, as they continued to run back the same path, all the alarms suddenly started going off.

They stopped. "What's going on?" Joey asked, startled.

"The guards must have found out that the alarms had been off and turned them all back on. We must have crossed one of those areas, making the alarms go off." Mokuba panicked.

"This is just great!" Joey said.

"We have to hurry...come on!" Seto said, dragging poor Mokie by the hand, while Joey did his best to keep up while also carrying Mokuba. They were now in full panicking mode, and hoping they could get out in time before the guards surrounded them.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba had finished his meeting, and was just leaving Gozaburo's room with a contract copy in hand, and calmly walking away. As he did...suddenly, the alarms started to go off all over the building.

"What?" Gozaburo asked in surprise, turning to glare at Kaiba. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded to know.

Pretending he was in control of this all along, Kaiba merely smirked, "Let's just say it's an insurance policy to make certain that you won't also back out of the deal, and try to keep my brother. Mokuba is mine...don't ever forget that."

"Only if you win this time, Seto..." Gozaburo told him.

"Hmph...I won't lose." Kaiba then calmly walked away.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Seto, Mokie, Joey, and Mokuba finally made it back to the secret hallway, and were on their final stretch to escape.

But, just before they could enter the hallway, they hear a guard yell, "Freeze!"

It came from behind. They turned and the guard looked shocked to see two Mokuba's, asking, "What kind of trick is this?" Then with gun still in hand, he ordered, "All four of you get back here, right now. I think we're going to have a nice little chat with Master Noah!"

Everyone looked panicked, as Mokie looked down feeling it was his fault. He should have never left. Now, he ended up getting them all in trouble.

Seto and Joey were both panicked not sure what to do. Joey felt Mokuba wiggling to get him down, and he blankly let him make it to a stand. Mokuba moved up to his other self, taking his hand to reassure him, knowing his brother would want that. He was probably the only one in the group trying to devise a plan. He was hoping to either play cute and innocent, then attack the guard long enough for hopefully Seto or Joey to do something. Either that, or play sicker than he was and collapse next to the guard to distract him...something. The problem was, he was counting on Joey and Seto to do something without giving them any hints about it, and felt no matter what...his plan was probably doomed from the start. But, it was better than doing nothing. If only his brother was here to help...

Then suddenly, to their surprise...the guard suddenly collapsed. And as he collapsed, the dark foreboding figure of Kaiba could be seen directly behind where he was.

Mokie looked up, both of them seeming so happy to see him. But Kaiba didn't look very happy. He eyed both Mokuba's being there, then glared up at both Seto and Joey, looking like he was about to murder the both of them.

He approached them quickly, and easily chose Seto as the one to blame as he grabbed him by the collar, stating, "I thought I made it more than apparently clear to you not to put my brother in danger! Not only does he look just as sick as he did earlier, he could have very easily been captured in there, at any time!"

"Don't blame me for this!" Seto snapped. "Maybe if you kept your end of the deal, we wouldn't have had to make this kind of risk in the first place!"

"Stop it!" Mokuba cried, as he and Mokie pulled the two Seto's apart. "We don't have time for this, now! We gotta get to safety and back before the duel's over."

Kaiba looked down at Mokuba, then back up at Seto, stating, "Fortunately for you, we are short on time. Let's go."

Bending down, Kaiba scooped up both Mokie 'and' Mokuba in each arm, and headed down the hall.

The gesture only made Seto more jealous that after doing everything he did to save his brother, Kaiba has the gall to pick up his own brother like he owns him!

Joey slapped Seto on the shoulder, saying, "Come on, man...Mokuba's right. We don't have time for this. You two can spit at each other, later."

Grudgingly, Seto followed behind as they headed out of the mansion and to safety before the guards found them.


	55. C55 Accusations

**C55 Accusations**

Dark Magician was blasted off the field from Barrel Dragon's attack, though Yami seemed cool and collected after it happened. There was still another monster on Yami's side of the field, which Noah attempted to also destroy using Barrel Dragon's special ability...but it failed.

Noah smiled, saying, "Well...it doesn't matter. That monster will be gone by next round anyway, and I'll win the duel."

Yet, to Noah's surprise, Yami smiled. "You're wrong, Noah...in fact, you fell right into my hands."

"What?" Noah asked, not seeing what he was talking about.

Yami announced, "I sacrifice my Beaver Warrior to summon Dark Magician Girl!"

"That's it?" Noah laughed. "That card doesn't come close to my Barrel Dragon's power!" Then to Noah's amazement, he realized that Yami's monster was equal to his in strength. "What? But, how can this be!"

"Very simple." Yami stated. "With each Dark Magician and Dark Magician of Chaos in my graveyard, Dark Magician Girl is powered up 200 points...and I have three total. You had failed to see my trap, and now you'll pay the price!"

Noah looked angry and spat. "It doesn't matter. Your monster is still equal to mine. If you attack, you'll lose your only trump card!"

"Not after I play this." Yami stated. "I summon a the field card...Yami!"

The entire field became dark, making it look like Yami had created a shadow game...even though it was only the card that was doing it. "Now, I'm afraid the scales had once again turned in my favor! Dark Magician Girl, destroy Noah's Barrel Dragon!"

Noah looked fearful as Dark Magician Girl rushed forward with 2800 attack points, and slain the Barrel Dragon, causing Noah to lose 200 life points.

Yami smiled and said, "I end my turn."

Noah did not look happy, as he said, "I see. So...you really have gotten better, Yugi. I guess you're going to force me to get serious. Because, now...you'll fallen into MY trap!"

"A trap?" Yami asked. "How, so?"

"Very easy, Yugi." Noah smiled. "...or maybe I should have said you fell into your own trap. I use the card Monster Reborn!"

Yami's eyes widened and was horrified to see his own Dark Magician appear on Noah's side of the field. "I'm afraid your magician wasn't very happy about you sacrificing them in order to power up your Dark Magician Girl." Noah laughed.

The tables were instantly turned. The field card also boosted the Dark Magician, and worst still...by removing one of them from Yami's graveyard, Dark Magician Girl weekend. It was now 2700 to 2600 and Noah had him beat by a 100 point difference. "Dark Magician...attack your former master!" Noah continued to laugh as the female magician was blown off the screen.

Yami dropped to his knees in shame, knowing his points were getting low. And after what Noah said, he could only blame himself. 'He's right. Forgive me, Dark Magician...I shouldn't have made those sacrifices over my own reckless need for revenge. Perhaps Kaiba is the better one for the job, after all...'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After finally making it out of the mansion, they swiftly moved into the cover of the garden and out of danger from any guards. Now, out of sight and safe, Kaiba placed both versions of Mokuba down.

"I think I could have carried Mokie, myself...I didn't need your help, you know." Seto snapped.

"I could tell." Kaiba stated dryly, as he now began to inspect both Mokuba's to make sure they were safe and okay. "You really had it under control when that guard had you all at gun point."

"Hey...we didn't need your help!" Seto lied. "We could have taken that guy."

Kaiba gave a slight smile, seeing as his little brother rolled his eyes at Seto's comment and shook his head slightly for Kaiba to notice, indicating his blatant lie...even though Kaiba already knew.

His focus then came on Mokie, and immediately noticed the collar and that the kid was slightly rasping. His eyes widened at the sight, immediately bringing his hands up to undo the collar.

"It aint that easy to get off." Joey said. "It's got a lock on it. Here...let me help."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed at Joey with distrust, but didn't do anything to push him away, since he himself couldn't get it off.

Joey had a paper clip and was using it on the lock, as he said to Kaiba, "This thing seemed kinda jammed when I played with it before. Of course, with us having to get out of there quick...we were a little stressed for time. And to be honest, I'm not really good with stress."

Kaiba gave him a smirk, as he sarcastically replied, "I never noticed."

"Ha ha...laugh it up, tough guy." Joey said and they both instantly shut up, hearing a click.

The collar came off, and Mokie seemed immediately happier...now able to breathe easy, once again.

"What's this from?" Kaiba next asked Joey, who was still closest to him at the moment, as he moved some of Mokie's hair back, showing an odd indent on both sides of his face above his ears, as if something else was tightly strapped to his head.

"Oh." Joey said, looking down. "Well...he had this weird psycho mask on his face, too. It made him look like a little Hannibal Lector or something."

Kaiba glared down at Mokie with the look of pain in his eyes.

Mokie looked up at him, seeing that look in his eyes and assuming it was just grief he was feeling, not realizing it was also mixed with his own guilt. After all...he was still blaming himself for leaving so soon to get back to own brother when he first got stuck here, back when he heard he was dying. But by doing so, he left Mokie defenseless against Noah's wrath. And worst still, he had now made sudden plans to abandon Mokie and leave him behind until after the duel, instead of rescuing him when he should have. He still felt it had to be done, and if he had to do the same thing again...he knew he wouldn't change a thing. And the guilt laid heavily on his soul because of it.

"It's okay, Niisama." Mokie smiled up at him. "I'm okay. I'm able to see you all again, and that makes me happy."

He gave Mokie a hint of a smile to make him feel better, glanced at Mokuba to see him smiling, and nodding in approval as well. They were all okay.

Kaiba then got up, and turned to Seto...seeing him with his arms crossed and stewing with jealousy. "Are you done trying to play the hero, yet?" he childishly snapped. "I'm the one that saved him!"

Kaiba approached and to everyone's surprise, sucker-punched him square in the nose.

"Seto, no!" Mokuba spat, running to him and clinging to his leg, as Seto cried out and collapsed...helplessly holding his painful and bleeding nose.

"Here...take this." Joey said, offering Seto a handkerchief. Seto took it to stop the bleeding, as Joey turned to Kaiba and snapped, "What the hell was 'that' for??!!"

"I warned him not to put my brother in danger." Kaiba snapped. "He got what was coming to him...though he deserved worst."

"I deserve worst??" Seto snapped angrily as he wiped at his nose and began to stand. "You should talk! Why don't you turn to my brother right now, and tell him the truth! Tell him how you had no intention to help him out of that house in the first place! If it wasn't for us, he'd still be there with that mask and collar on! Do you even care??"

Seto now took a swing at Kaiba, who easily caught the fist before it reached him, still continuing to glare at Seto with hate. But he was no longer sure if that hate was really towards Seto, or was reflected towards himself. He couldn't punch himself for failing his brother, yet again. Yet, he had another face identical to himself to take it out on, which was pretty convenient at the time.

"Please...stop!" Mokie cried out, now running and grabbing onto Seto's leg, both trying to stop this fight.

"You accuse me of endangering your brother...well, you're no better! How dare you endanger 'my' brother like you did!"

"It had to be done." Kaiba said, pushing Seto back. "If I didn't make the arrangement with Gozaburo, then it would have solved nothing when I left. Noah would still be breaking his agreements and chasing after him. You have more than already proved your incompetence in not being able to protect him, yourself. The only logical course was to go over Noah's head to make sure this wouldn't happen again."

"And what makes you think Noah would have given him back if you left it that way, or that he wouldn't have done worst before handing him over...'if' he did!" Seto yelled.

"Guys...you really wanna keep it down. Those guards are still looking for us." Joey muttered, looking around nervously.

Seto continued to rant, "Did you ever think of that? Did you ever think of the human side to all this? What if Noah killed him before we could get him back, just to get even...what about that? But, I suppose making sacrifices and gambles on people's lives comes easy on you, doesn't it!"

"Seto, stop it!" Mokuba said, in sudden concern over where this conversation was leading.

"Mokuba told me what you did to him!" Seto next snapped out, causing Mokuba to turn white...he never thought Seto would betray what he said to him, and smear this in his own brother's face. "I guess juggling your brother's life isn't much different than doing the same with Mokie! Well, let me tell you something, mister 'you think you're better than everyone else' this is MY brother who's life you're playing this, and that mansion over there is no Death Tournament!"

"Stop it!!!" Mokuba yelled at him, trying to hide the tears slipping on his face. They all turned to Mokuba, who turned away, sniffing. "I'm sorry, Seto...I shouldn't have said anything to him. I didn't think he would..."

"It's alright, Mokuba." Kaiba said, turning to look back at Seto.

Seto was expecting another punch in the face after that last verbal attack. But to his surprise, it seemed to have calmed Kaiba down, instead.

He gave a smirk, muttering, "Hmph...I guess you're right."

"What?" Seto asked, never expecting to hear those words come out of his mouth.

"If there's one thing I've learned in life...there is no victory that can be made without a sacrifice, and your brother turned out to be it." Kaiba replied. "I saw no other way to keep your brother's future safe, then to sacrifice the safety of his present life to do so. And if given the option, I'd do it again."

Seto glared at him from his response, once again unable to believe this person could possibly be some version of him. He hated this person for what he stood for, and in the end...he proved to Seto that he really was a Kaiba, through and through.

"There was no other way to do it, and there was no one else that was willing to get their hands dirty. So, I made the move and took a gamble." Kaiba explained.

"You had no right to gamble with my brother!" Seto yelled.

"No...I didn't. But then, you had no right to gamble with my brother, either. I suppose when it comes down to it, perhaps you really are more like me, then you'd care to admit."

Seto paled at the comparison, quickly refusing to accept the similarity. "I am NOTHING like you!"

Kaiba then ruffled his brother's head to keep him calm, and let him know whatever was said he was not blaming him on, as he added, "But you're right about Death-T. I suppose after that talk with my brother...you finally succeeded in finding something that makes you better than me. Congratulations."

Seto paused, not sure what to say to that.

Kaiba gently pulled away from his brother, then turned and began to walk away. "Perhaps you really are best for Mokuba in this world. Let's go...we have a duel to win."

"Uh..." Seto muttered, watching him leave.

As soon as Kaiba was out of earshot, Mokuba sharply turned to Seto and snapped, "I think he's wrong. After what you said, Seto is a 'way' better brother than you!"

To Seto's surprise, Mokuba kicked him hard right in the leg, causing him to crumble, just like that guard did when they were inside the mansion. "At least my brother always kept his promises!"

Then before anything else could be said, he rushed off to join Kaiba.

"Ow..." Seto muttered, as Mokie gently touched his arm, feeling bad that another version of him would do that.

Joey just laughed, saying, "You know, for a little guy...that kid's got balls of steel! Remind me later to laugh at you for getting beat up by a little shrimp."

"Shut up!!" Seto snapped.

Joey helped Seto back up to his feet, as they slowly followed far behind Kaiba and Mokuba.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Noah is laughing like a nut, after finally bringing Yami's life points to 0.

Yami had truly hoped he would be able to defeat Noah, this time. But, unlike the Yami of Kaiba's world, he lacked the experience the other one had faced and was not yet ready. And for his failure, he continued to blame himself.

"It's okay, Yugi...you tried." Tea said, still trying to make him feel better.

"Well, that was amusing." Noah sneered. "So, Seto...I guess it's now your turn to lose." But as he looked over at the others, he realized Seto was gone.

"Oh, no!" Angie cried. "Where is Seto?"

They quickly realized that Kaiba hadn't come back yet, and now Seto was gone, too. Yami looked behind him in concern. 'Oh, no...now what?'

At that, Noah just laughed some more. "Ahahaha...poor poor Seto. I guess after watching his friend get so miserably beaten, he had decided to chicken out. Maybe he finally 'is' getting smarter."

"Don't say that about my brother!" Angie cried. "Seto would never run away from a fight!"

"Is that so?" Noah asked, amused. "Well, then where is he? Obviously, you're loser brother is afraid to face me."

But, right after Noah said that, a guard nervously approached Noah, and silently muttered to him mentioning the alarm and Mokie's escape. "What??" Noah boomed. "How could this have happened?"

Noah then turned to the gang, snapping, "You planned to distract me all along! You'll pay for this! Guards!!"

The guards drew their guns, aiming them at Yami, Angie, and Tea...leaving them shaken, and uncertain what to do.

"Keep your gorilla group away from them, Noah...we still have duel to play." Kaiba voice said, as he casually walked out.

The others breathed easy, glad to see that he made it in time, even though they still weren't sure what happened to Seto. And where was Joey?

Noah turned to see what he believed to be Seto. Strangely enough, he seemed to have had a change of clothes since he last saw him...and very nice ones, at that.

"Where is Mokuba!" Noah demanded.

"That's none of your business." Kaiba snapped. "I already told you that Mokuba was not going to be made as a bargaining chip in this duel. I meant what I said."

"Hmph..." Noah muttered, deciding that he could always steal him back, later. He brought his hand up, silently informing the guards to back off...which they did.

'It doesn't matter.' Noah thought. 'He's going to lose. And whether he loses or not, my guards will imprison whoever we have to in order to get Mokuba back. Foolish Seto...you've accomplished nothing but delaying the inevitable.'

Noah chuckled, saying, "It's kind of funny that you accepted my duel, and yet you have made no further demands. Exactly, what do you intend to benefit by winning...not that you will."

Kaiba shrugged, "Personally, I didn't see the point. From what I've seen, you're not worthy of making deals with, since you lack the honor to keep your agreements."

"I have so honored my agreements!" Noah spat.

"How so?" Kaiba asked. "You steal my brother again, and even Yugi had his duel card still kept from him. You backed down on every deal you made!"

"You're wrong!" Noah spat. "I have kept some of my deals...I have not done anything to harm your precious friends since that time. I was even gracious enough to let Yami duel me without threatening his grandfather. But, this time...after I win this duel and take back my title, not only will I reclaim Mokuba as mine permanently, I will make sure you and your friends all suffer! By the time I am done with your pathetic little group, they will all wish you never defeated me in a duel!"

Despite the concern the others had from Noah's threat, Kaiba didn't even look phased as he pulled out his deck and duel disk, stating, "Your boring me, Noah...let's duel!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mokuba A/N: Now to those like me who don't duel and haven't a clue as to the rules of the game here what the field card Yami does.

This is Clarity's explanation:

Yami is the name of the field card. (kind of a little irony, there...) ;)

A field card is a Magic Card that is placed in the 'field zone' instead of the normal Trap or Magic card zone. Yami is a field card that increases all Fiend and Spellcasters an additional 200 attack points (I think def points, too...but that's a moot point in this case), for either side of the field. That means if Noah summoned a spellcaster (thus...the Dark Magician), that monster would also get a 200 att increase. I used that on purpose instead of giving Dark Magician Girl a power up card, to ensure Noah would win when he summoned Dark Magician.

Other examples of field cards are during Noah's duel against Kaiba. Remember he kept changing the last around him to volcanoes, to plains, to other climates. Well everytime he did that, he was changing a field card (I'm assuming to boost his animal's attack). But since he showed no field cards, maybe he used that as some special ability that only he could use since he created the world. Another example is during Duelist Kingdom. Remember when they had to be careful what area they fought in, when battling because it could effect their monsters? Well, without explaining it to the audience, Pegasus basically splatted down automatic field card bonuses for each zone they battled in. Yet, in that...some zones had 2 field card advantages, just to make it more confusing (because in a normal game, only one field card can be active at a time. If one card is already up and another is played it cancels out the first field card, like a dispel magic).

Examples of these field cards are: Mountain, Forest, Umi, Yami, Umiiruka(sp), Plain, Wasteland, Toonworld...and others.

All duels were written by Clarity, so any questions on or about the duel please direct your questions to her.

9/23: Sorry I keep forgetting, I remember this week but the 23rds also my birthday


	56. C56 Seto and Mokuba’s heart to heart

**C56 Seto and Mokuba's heart to heart**

Mokuba marched through the garden, quickening his pace to catch up to his brother. But, from behind he heard Joey cry out, "Hey, kid...stop!"

"I'm not a kid!" Mokuba snapped, still angry with Seto for breaking his promise and ready to lash out anyone else nearby.

"Hey...I'm sorry! Geez..." Joey said, catching up. "But, you can't go out there with him!"

"And why not?" Mokuba asked.

Joey answered, "Cuz you aint Mokie, that's why. And Noah's gonna be able to tell something weird's going on if you jump out there...that's why. So, unless you wanna screw this up fer your brother, you better stay back."

Mokuba looked down at the ground, knowing Joey was right. He couldn't risk it, even though he wanted to be there for his brother. "But...Seto might need me."

"I can go out there with Mokie, if you think that'll help." Joey said.

"I..." Mokuba then nodded. "Yes. At least then one of us will be out there to route for him. I just don't want him to feel alone."

Joey chuckled at that. "Come on, kid...you know yer brother's tougher than that. The way Kaiba acts, he don't need anyone."

"That's not true." Mokuba said. "Just because he acts that way...it doesn't mean that's the way he is, or it's how he really feels."

He then turned to Joey, crying, "Seto cares just as much as any of you! But...he can't help it. He's just afraid to show it."

"That makes no sense." Joey said, scratching his head. "Why would anyone be afraid to be nice?"

"It's the way he was taught." Mokuba said, once again looking away. "And anytime he ever did try to let someone in, he always paid because of it. It's the only way he knows how to protect himself."

Mokuba then glared back up at Joey and snapped, "But, that doesn't make him any less a person than you are!"

"Okay...okay...I get it." Joey said, putting his hands up, defensively.

"...that doesn't excuse what he did to you, Mokuba."

Mokuba turned and glared at Seto, who had said that statement. "Don't you ever judge my brother, until you've lived with what he had to. Whether you like or not, you're also him. If you went through what he did...you would be in the same place, right now!"

"I would not!" Seto spat. "I'm nothing like that guy!"

Mokuba then gave a smirk that reminded Seto of the kid's older brother. "You're just mad cuz of what my big brother said. And he's right, too...you're already acting like him. You had no problem using me so you can get your own brother back."

"I wasn't using you!" Seto snapped angrily.

Joey decided to take this as perhaps a good time to leave and let these two argue it out. He turned to Mokie, saying, "Hey, kid...why don't we go watch Kaiba fight?"

"No!" Seto said. "I don't want Mokie anywhere near Noah!"

Joey then explained, "But, if we don't...Noah could send guards to find him and end up finding you two. It's best he's somewhere where Noah could see him. Don't worry...Kaiba'll make sure nothing happens."

"You mean like he helped Mokie before? Ow!!" Seto cried, after Mokuba kicked him again. "Stop doing that!"

"Then stop bashing my brother every second!" Mokuba snapped back.

Deciding Joey's suggestion was a good one, Mokie quickly slipped over to where Joey was and silently took his hand. "If it makes ya feel better...I'll keep him honest, okay?"

The two then left, leaving both Mokuba and Seto staring each other down.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba and Noah were shuffling each other's decks, as Noah spoke. "Well, Seto...I'm happy you accepted my rematch."

"Personally...you're not worth of my time." Kaiba said. "But after kidnapping Mokuba and going against your agreement 'again', I felt you deserved to be crushed like the insect that you are."

"Don't you think you might be just a little over-positive, Seto?" Noah asked. "After all...you just barely won the first time, and I crushed your friend Yugi like nothing. What makes you think you can actually beat me again?"

Kaiba glanced towards Yugi just for a moment, who was Yugi again, and seemed to be looking down at the ground as Noah spoke. "Knowing you...you're probably exaggerating But, if Yugi lost, then he deserved it. That doesn't change the outcome of your defeat any more than before."

"We'll just see about that." Noah smiled. "As for Mokuba...I did no such thing. We were just playing...that's all."

"If that's the case, then the next time you decide to 'play' with my brother, maybe you wouldn't mind inviting some reporters in to take pictures of the playful mask and collar you were suffocating him with. I'm sure torturing a minor would look just wonderful on your and your father's press coverage." Kaiba replied, causing almost everyone behind him to gasp in surprise.

Noah snapped back, "How I choose to play with my pet is no one else's business but my own."

"I'm going to make you pay for what you did to him." Kaiba hissed.

Noah paused, seeming to decide if he should be angry or amused by Kaiba's words. Finally, he laughed. "You know...the problem is, I've been letting you fools get away with too much, lately. You all seemed to have forgotten who's really in charge, here. I bet you haven't forgotten...isn't that right, my pet?"

Kaiba glanced back to see Joey and Mokie were now there, as Mokie looked fearfully at Noah and squirmed back behind him, so as to make sure and stay out of sight.

Kaiba's jaw tightened, as he said, "Don't listen to him, Mokuba!"

"You have all forgotten that I can do whatever I so please. No one can stand in my way...not law enforcement, not reporters, and especially not you nobodies. And when I'm through with you...I guarantee you will all learn that lesson, soon enough." Noah evilly grinned.

The others seemed concerned, but Kaiba still did not seem phased. "Well see who learns the lesson Noah. You have forgotten that you're not untouchable. So, I've already made arrangements to prove to you that you are."

"What? What are you talking about!" Noah snapped.

Kaiba smirked, already looking triumphant. "I hear your father's rather disappointed in your last failure, Noah. I wonder how he would feel about you failing a second time. I bet he wouldn't approve."

"My father has nothing to do with this!" Noah argued.

"Oh, but he does." Kaiba insisted. "You see...since you can't keep a contract to save your life, I decided to go over your head and make an arrangement with Gozaburo, instead."

Noah paused, considering what he was saying. 'He's lying...he has to be. There wasn't even enough time for such a thing. And Seto wouldn't have the guts to face my father!' "You're lying!! My father would never make a deal with a low-life such a you!"

"A low-life? Not even the supposed low-life that had already humiliated his son on public TV, putting the reputation of a Kaiba in jeopardy? Are you sure about that?" Kaiba asked, his smirk growing...he was really beginning to enjoy this.

"I will not listen to this!" Noah snapped angrily. "I don't care what you say...my father would never make a deal about me behind my back!!"

He shoved Kaiba's deck back to him, accepting his own deck back, as Noah stated, "Let's duel!!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You broke your promise to me!" Mokuba snapped at Seto. "I will not forgive you!"

"He had no right to do what he did to you! He deserved to have someone tell him off!" Seto snapped back. "Why do you protect him after what he did to you??"

"You know why...I already told you that!" Mokuba yelled back. "It's too bad for everything I said to you, you can only remember the bad things I say about him!"

"No one deserves to be treated like you did!" Seto snapped.

"Do you think he doesn't know that? Don't you think he's in enough pain for what he did?" Mokuba asked.

Seto snapped, "'His' pain? What about your pain!"

"Why does this always have to be about me!" Mokuba snapped. "He ended up that way, because he cared about me!"

"And you're always blaming yourself for this! Did you ever think that maybe the reason your brother acted that way was 'his' fault instead of yours?? Stop being so damn guilty about yourself all the time!" Seto stated.

"If I don't defend my brother...no one will! I don't care what you think. The only reason you really want to blame him is because you don't like him...big surprise. You know, if you want some kind of proof that my brother is only beating up on himself all the time and not doing it for himself, then why don't you look in the mirror. You're blaming him, just like he would. No matter what I say or do, I'm never the one to blame in your eyes, no matter what I do to prove different!" Mokuba snapped.

"I'm not like him!" Seto snapped. "And what are you talking about?"

"I didn't do some very nice things, either." Mokuba said, looking down. "I invited Yugi and his friends over, because big brother wanted to defeat Yugi. So, I tried to poison them all...but I failed."

"You, 'what'??" Seto asked.

Mokuba looked coldly at him. "That's right. So, now what do you have to say about it?"

"Well..." Seto awkwardly looked away. "After everything your brother did to you, it's no wonder you turned out that way."

"I knew it." Mokuba smiled, looking down. "So, once again...it's his fault."

"What am I supposed to say!" Seto snapped. "You're my brother. Or...at least my brother from another world, right? Of course I'm not going to look down at you."

"That's right." Mokuba smiled. "You're going to look down at him, because he's you that failed his little brother."

"Dammit, will you cut it out??!" Seto said, putting his hands to his head. "You're giving me a headache."

"Then, are you going to stop picking on my brother all the time?" Mokuba asked. "You know, you're no better to me, after proving how little I can trust you!"

Seto paused, looking down at him. "Listen...I'm sorry I broke my promise. I know that really upset you. But, it just made me so angry, thinking that he treated you no better then, then...Noah!"

"He treated me much better than that." Mokuba said, looking away.

"If you felt your brother was so wonderful, you wouldn't have talked to me about your problems in the first place. You're not happy, Mokuba." Seto said.

Mokuba looked down. "It has nothing to do with Death-T...it really doesn't. It's just...I'm lonely, once in awhile. Seto tries so hard to make sure I have a good life, that I don't get a chance to see him very much."

He then sat down in the grass, muttering, "I miss him. I miss what it used to be like, before we were adopted. It wasn't really ever perfect then either, but at least we were together all the time. I just wish...I could spend more time with him, that's all."

Seto looked down at Mokuba. He wanted to insult the guy some more, but realized doing so wasn't going to make him feel any better. He had to swallow his own prejudices towards the guy, and at least try and cheer the kid up. Besides, after having it smeared in his face how he acted just like him by gambling with Mokuba's life, it was enough to make him feel guilty for using him, like that...feeling maybe Kaiba was right, and it wasn't the right thing to do.

"Well...you say your brother's so wonderful." Seto said, squatting down. "Talk to him about this. I'm sure he'll do whatever he can to make you feel better and less lonely."

"Promise you wont talk to him about this, Seto." Mokuba said. "And this time, if you do...you're going to wish a kick in the leg is all you get."

Seto paled as Mokuba began to cough. He moved closer, asking, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah...it's just that cold again." Mokuba replied. "I hate colds...they take forever to go away, sometimes."

To Mokuba's surprise, Seto wrapped his arms around him, saying, "Well, here...go ahead and give your germs to me. Maybe they'll help you get rid of them faster."

Mokuba giggled, saying, "That's crazy!"

"Yeah, but...you never know." Seto smiled back at him.


	57. C57 The Duel

**C57 The Duel**

Mokuba A/N: This duel was written by Clarity, as I don't have a clue as to how to duel.

Clarity Narr: Some of the rules are exaggerated with the series 'stretches' others the rules applied as normal. If you think something doesn't sound right, make sure to let me know.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'll of course go first, since I did originally call for this game." Noah said, and began to draw his cards.

"Whatever." Kaiba smirked, finding Noah's weak attempt at superiority as comical at the very least. 'It doesn't matter who starts this match, Noah. No matter what you do...you don't stand a chance.'

"I'll play one card face down and end my turn." Noah smiled at him. 'Go ahead and attack me, Seto. As soon as you attack my monster, your monster will also die.

Kaiba drew his card. He gave an evil smirk, saying, "Say good-bye to your monster, Noah."

"Oh? Is that a powerful monster in your hand?" Noah asked.

"Not exactly." he stated, and placed a magic card, instead.

"What?" Noah asked, surprised. It was Nobleman of Crossout.

"Being the genius card player that you claim to be, I'm sure you know what it does. That card of yours is now removed from play, and if it's an effect monster...any other card like it in your deck is also gone. Noah grudgingly flipped the card, showing it was a Man Eating Bug. He then went into his deck, pulling out the other one and removed them both from the game. "Since when do you have that card?" Noah snapped, irritated.

Kaiba calmly replied, "I think you'll be rather surprised with many of the cards I have in my deck. I'll now remove one monster from my hand to special summon my Paladin of White Dragon!"

Noah gaped, not recognizing any of these cards. "But, that's not all." Kaiba continued. "Since it's a special summon, I'm also allowed to summon a normal monster. I think I'll choose my Blade Knight. Now, both my monsters...attack Noah directly!"

Noah cried in agony and in disbelief. The others that watched this scene were equally stunned.

"I can't believe it." Yami gasped, changing back to see this battle. "I had struggled with Noah the entire match just to reach some kind of advantage, and in one turn Kaiba nearly won the game."

Tea added, "Kaiba had just done 3500 damage to Noah. One more shot and Kaiba wins!"

Angie put her hand to her mouth, trying to fathom this, herself. She knew that Kaiba had bragged he would smear the floor with Noah...but she didn't take it seriously. 'Can it really be that easy for him?' She then smiled, and said, "Do it, Seto! We're here for you!"

Mokie couldn't believe it, either...after he and Joey had shown up on the scene. To him, Noah was so powerful, people trembled at his presence. He couldn't understand how Kaiba could make him look so weak in one move. 'Maybe it's one of Noah's tricks?' he thought, being used to knowing how invincible Noah was. He had watched them fight before, but it was a hard struggle for Kaiba even then. But, this...it was like Kaiba wasn't even in the same league with him.

"Oh, yeah!!" Joey boasted, getting into his tough-man pose. "You rule! Kick his ass, Kai-...er, Seto!"

Kaiba ignored Joey's slip-up, as he continued with saying, "I now sacrifice my Paladin of White Dragon to summon my Blue Eyes on the Field." That caused even more stares of disbelief. Kaiba managed to summon his Blue Eyes during his first move. "I then place a monster face-down and end my turn."

Noah didn't notice the slip Joey almost made, either. He was too shaken and in shock from such a strong opening attack from what he thought to be Seto. He knew the man in front of him had a strong deck and his cards were based on strength. He in fact made a deck specifically to counter its strength. But, never did he expect him to be capable of hitting so hard so fast...he especially didn't expect him to summon a Blue Eyes, already. He wasn't even sure if he could get his strategy put together in time before he might be wiped out. 'No...this can't be happening! Seto is NOT that strong! He must have gotten lucky. Maybe Yugi's grandpa helped him with a few booster cards, knowing I would be going after him more seriously. That has to be it...he's cheating again, getting help from his friends! Well, I'll show him...nobody makes a fool out of me!!'

"You'll pay for this, Seto!!" Noah blurted, drawing another card. "Hmph...let's see how you handle 'this'! I discard one card in order to use Tribute of the Doomed. Say good-bye to your Blue Eyes!"

The Blue Eyes disappeared and Kaiba looked unfazed. "I will now summon my Dunames Dark Witch and attack your Blade Knight!"

Noah attacked Blade Knight, doing a whopping 200 damage to him. As soon as he was destroyed, to Noah's shock...Kaiba's Blue Eyes reappeared. "W-what??"

"I activated a trap card when you attempted to kill my Blue Eyes." Kaiba calmly stated, revealing his trap. "My Interdimensional Matter Transporter removed my Blue Eyes from the field during that time, saving him from your attack and allowing him to reappear now."

"You...but...you..." Noah stuttered out, unable to believe it was still on the field.

Kaiba stared, seeming amused with him, as he stated, "If you can't play in the big leagues, kid...you might as well give up, now."

"I will never surrender to the likes of you! I'll make you eat those words!!" Noah snapped. "I play one card face-down and end my turn!"

"Good...then it's my turn!" Kaiba drew. "I summon my Vorse Raider on the field! I will then attack with my Blue Eyes against your witch."

"Wrong!" Noah laughed. "Your attack will instead be 'your' monster!"

The trap card Noah activated was Dark Spirit of the Silent, which possessed Kaiba's Blue Eyes for that turn, causing him to turn on a monster of his own...destroying his own Vorce Raider. Noah smirked triumphantly as his life points went down 1100 to 2700. He was waiting for Kaiba to throw a fit, but he still barely seemed fazed.

Instead he smiled, saying, "It's about time you started to do something. I was starting to get bored."

Noah's smile faded, but he added, "Obviously since the last game, you have grown way too over-confident. I was going easy on you up until now. But, this is where it ends, Seto...it wont be long before you fall into my trap, where there will be no escape!"

"I certainly hope it gets better, for your sake, Noah. Because if this is all you've got...you're finished." Kaiba stated. "I end my turn."

"Now, you will see the beginning of my new ingenious deck!" Noah stated, drawing. "I activate Swords of Revealing Light. With it, you cannot..."

"...attack for three turns. Yes, I know...I've had that played on me more than enough times." Kaiba stated, giving an annoyed glare over at Yami, who gave a slight smirk at the response.

"Good." Noah stated. "Then, I end."

"My turn." Kaiba said, drawing again...looking rather amused with his next card. "I now summon Kaibaman on the field!"

"You summon 'what'??" Noah asked.

Everyone looked at the person on the field, seeming confused.

Joey scratched his head, saying, "You know...this might be strange to say. But, that guy looks kinda like Ka-..."

"You mean Seto?" Angie quickly chimed in, elbowing Joey.

"Ow! Oh, yeah...Seto." Joey said, rubbing his now sore ribs.

"Huh? Uh...but..." Noah blinked. He couldn't understand this card or how Seto had gotten it. He had heard of this card, though he didn't have it, himself. He heard that Pegasus was going to make a card called Kaibaman, which was supposed to be as a tribute to Noah for being the world champ. That is, until Seto had beaten him. Could Pegasus had made the Kaibaman look like Seto instead of him, as an insult because he had lost and Seto had won?? Noah's face was turning beat red in rage for such an slap in the face. 'I will sue Pegasus for everything he's worth for this disgrace! I will not lie down with this insult!!'

Since Noah wasn't saying anything intelligent since the card appeared on the field, Kaiba then continued. "And per it's special ability, I now sacrifice this card to summon my second Blue Eyes." Kaiba smiled down at the flustered Noah, knowing he only had to summon one more Blue Eyes and he could call forth his Ultimate Dragon. And once that happened, Noah would be as good as dead. "I end."

Noah drew, and as he did...he looked pleased. "I'm going to teach you a lesson for ever underestimating me, Seto! I'll use Snatch Steel and take your dragon from you!"

Everyone looked in shock from Noah's move, including Kaiba. "I will also summon a monster face-down and end my turn." Noah then added, "You don't understand who you're dealing with, Seto. This deck was designed to turn your own strengths against you. You shall see this soon enough."

"You're playing a risky game, Noah." Kaiba said, watching his own LPs suddenly get raised by 1000, due to Noah's own Snatch Steel penalty affect. "If you take too long to go after me, you'll only be helping me more than hurting me."

"Oh, I'm not too worried about that. You're life points will be zero soon enough." Noah smirked.

Kaiba drew. He still had one Blue Eyes on the field, but the other one of his Blue Eyes was now in Noah's hands. He had considered attacking the one with his own, but it worried him to do so. Taking the life of both his dragons would only make him lose another monster. And he didn't know what other tricks Noah had up his sleeve. They were dead even, so he decided to leave it for now. "I'll now summon my Kaiser Sea Horse in attack mode, then place one card face down and end my turn."

Noah drew another card, then said, "You now fell into my trap, Seto. I flip my face down monster which is a Brain Jacker, allowing me to attach it to whatever monster I choose...and I choose your dragon!"

The Brain Jacker leaped onto Kaiba's Blue Eyes, instantly giving him a second BEWD. All at once, Kaiba was now suddenly staring down at 2 of his dragons, both now controlled by Noah. It looked like Noah was right. He had a perfect deck to counter him. He had the strength and power to attack the strongest foes, and Noah was stealing his strength and using it against him.

Noah laughed, saying, "Well...it's too bad you're not very good at protecting your dragons. Now, let's see how good you are at protecting your other monsters. Blue Eyes...attack his Kaiser Seahorse!"

But, Kaiba activated his Negate Attack, stopping Noah's attack. Kaiba then angrily announced, "You may have presently stolen my dragons like you take everything else, Noah...but my Blue Eyes will never harm me!"

"Ha! You talk as if these stupid cards actually mean something to you! Oh, that's right...you and your friend's little chant on the 'heart of the cards'. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to break that belief of yours!" Noah spat. "I place one card face-down, then end my turn." Now 1500 more points were added to Kaiba's life points, due to the penalty effect of Noah's Brain Jacker, making Kaiba's LPs a total of 5200.

But, despite Kaiba's rapid growth of life, he also knew it could very easily be all taken away in one shot with the power Noah was presently holding on his side of the field. Even with Kaiser Seahorse on his side of the field, those two dragons could easily take him to near death in one shot if he wasn't careful.

Kaiba drew, while thinking for a moment about what Noah had said. He once believed the same way Noah did...cards were just power, they did not have a heart. In a way...he still didn't entirely believe Yugi or their little chant. But, he believed in his Blue Eyes...they were different to him than any other card. They would not be like the 4th dragon...they would not turn on him or abandon him, despite everything. He would prove to them that he was worthy, no matter what Noah did.

Then after looking over his cards, he announced, "I sacrifice my Kaiser Sea Horse to summon my third Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Noah laughed at that. "You don't learn very well...do you? Well, that's fine. I guess I'll just have to teach you a harsh lesson in pain."

'We'll see about that.' Kaiba thought. "I place one card face down, and I end." Swords of Revealing Light faded from the field.

"Kaiba!" Yami called, causing Kaiba to glance at him. Everyone that was there for him looked equally concerned and seemed to suspect the same thing that Kaiba had considered. If Noah had stolen two of his dragons...then chances were, he would also steal a third and slaughter him in one shot. It made them wonder why Kaiba made the move to summon his third dragon, which would allow Noah to take that one, as well.

Yet, Yami also noticed the look in Kaiba's eyes. To his surprise, even with two Blue Eyes breathing down his neck, and with the possible loss of a third in Noah's turn...his confidence did not waver. 'I hope you know what you're doing, Kaiba...'

Noah laughed hysterically, stating, "Well, Seto...it looks like this will be the end for you. I activate Brain Control and steal your last Blue Eyes! So, what do you think about that, Seto? All your dragons are now mine! And I'm going to destroy you with your own power!"

But, to Noah's surprise...Kaiba just smiled. "That's where your wrong, Noah. All three of my Dragons will now serve me once again."

"What?" Noah asked.

Kaiba's card flipped up, as he stated, "I use the card Soul Exchange, taking back what is rightfully mine! I will then activate Polymorization, merging them to become my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Noah seemed stunned. 'How...? How did it all get turned around in one shot??' Unable to do anything else, Noah replied, "I end my turn."

Kaiba drew his card, looking at it then glaring over at his opponent.

'I wonder what that face-down card is that Noah has, Yami.' Yugi thought. 'Do you think Kaiba noticed it?'

'I'm not sure.' Yami answered, equally concerned at that face-down card, worried that something could happen to his dragon. "Kaiba...don't be so hasty with your next move!"

"Keep out of this, Yugi!" Noah snapped. "Your battle is already over!"

Kaiba then made his move, stating, "I place one card face-down and attack with my Ultimate Dragon!"

"Ha!" Noah said, activating the trap card, which was Mirror Force.

"Oh, no!" Yami cried, knowing it was a bad move. 'Kaiba...why must you be so rash with your decision? You had to have known it was a trap!'

Ultimate Dragon was obliterated, as Noah laughed madly. "Too bad, Seto...maybe you should have listened to your friends!"

"Unlike you, I will not play a coward's game, Noah." Kaiba replied. "My dragons may be gone, but at least they're out of your hands. And don't think this means it's over, either."

Since Ultimate Dragon was special summoned, Kaiba placed another monster card down, stating, "I summon my LaJinn to the field and end my turn."

"Just because I play an intelligent game, it's hardly what should be called cowardly. Boldness is just another name for stupidity!" Noah drew his card, and placed it down, saying, "I use Card of Sanctity, allowing us to draw until we both have 6 cards." They both drew, and Kaiba took a moment to look over what he got...keeping a poker face on him.

'I hope those new cards Kaiba got will help him.' Yugi said to Yami.

Yami answered, 'As do I...he could use it. Without his dragons, the tables had turned to Noah's favor.' Noah then placed another card, saying, "I now use Graceful Charity." which allowed Noah to draw three cards and discard two, making him look ecstatically happy. He then drew another card, saying, "I will now use Pot of Greed!"

"...aply named in this case." Kaiba muttered, rolling his eyes from the amount of cards Noah was snatching up. "Did you get the right cards yet, Noah...or maybe you should pull out a Card

Destruction next?"

"Oh, don't you worry...I have exactly what I want!" Noah laughed. "And I'm afraid what I have will be your destruction in the next turn. Allow me to demonstrate to you what 'real' power is!"

"I will first use Premature Burial and summon a monster to the field!" Noah stated, pulling a monster from his own graveyard. To everyone's surprise, it was a Blue Eyes.

"A Blue Eyes..." Yami gasped. He then snapped angrily, "That's Grandpa's card!!"

"Ahh...yes. I suppose it is." Noah mused, making Kaiba concerned. What could he do? Could he face up against the very Blue Eyes that rejected him, and still win? Perhaps he should try and pull this one to his side, and save it from Noah. But, would this Blue Eyes serve him, or turn on him again...even if fighting against someone like Noah? But at this moment, Kaiba felt even destroying this incredible beast was better than allowing it to be kept in Noah's hands.

"Now, let me show you how you 'properly' use a Blue Eyes card, Seto..." Noah said. "I will sacrifice this card for a 'real' monster!"

"What??" Kaiba cried in shock. He watched in horror as the Blue Eyes once more self-destructed before his eyes, this time on Noah's command. It was painful to witness it again, but this time it wasn't because it refused to obey someone. For the Blue Eyes to be there in the first place, it meant Noah must have discarded him into the graveyard originally. And then, he summoned him just to discard him again?? Feeling the pain of that dragon's cry, he whispered out, "...why?"

"Simple..." Noah smiled evilly. "Because that's all a pitiful Blue Eyes is worth. It's powerful, yes...but its strength in death can give me even 'more' power!! I summon the Great Maju Garret!!"

This horrifyingly dark demonic monster was reborn in the Blue Eyes' destruction. It sapped every bit of the dragon's power into it, somehow making this thing's power even stronger. "This is the Ultimate Monster!!" Noah bragged. "The beauty of my ultimate creature is that it takes the power of whatever I sacrifice and doubles it. What you see before you Seto, is a 6000 attack monster!!"

"Say, WHAT??" Joey blurted. "No way!!"

"Hahahaha! That's right...and my beast even makes your so-called Ultimate Dragon look like a weakling, in comparison! But, that's not all...I'm about to give my monster even 'more' power!!" Noah boasted.

"That thing can get even stronger??" Tea asked.

Angie shook her head. "It's not powerful enough?"

"Noah was angry with Seto, for defeating him the first time. This overkill would probably make this win for him feel even better. Noah's trying to throw all his rage at him, at once." Yami stated.

Mokie grabbed Joey tighter and turned away, trembling, "Joey...I'm afraid."

"Don't be afraid, kiddo. He needs ya out there, right now. You show him that you believe in him no matter what, and I promise ya he won't disappoint you. Okay?" Joey said.

Mokie looked up at him, as Joey smiled down at him, frazzling his head.

Then taking a breath, Mokie called out, "I believe in you, Seto! Please don't give up!"

Kaiba looked back at Mokie and smiled.

Noah then spat out, "How dare you speak, you mongrel! I'll make you regret opening that mouth of yours!"

Mokie shivered at Noah's words. But, he remembered all the strength and confidence this other version of him showed, even while he was sick. 'He's me too, right?' he thought. 'So, if that's also me...then I can do this. For you, Seto...for both of you...'

Looking down and not facing anyone, he managed to mutter out, "I don't care. I will support Seto...no matter what you do to me."

Kaiba gave him a slight nod, thinking, 'I'm proud of you, kid. I knew you could stand up to him.'

Before Noah could say another word, Kaiba turned back, saying, "For your constant attacks against my brother, and for the insult you placed on that Blue Eyes...I'm going make you pay, Noah!"

"What is going on here?"

Noah whirled around, hearing the familiar voice. His own father, Gozaburo, had come out to see the battle.

"Father!" Noah said in delight. "Look, father...I'm about this squash this annoyance, once and for all!"

Kaiba glanced his way, and Gozaburo eyed him for a moment, then looked on the field. He then said evenly. "You better, Noah...because if you don't, this time there's going to be harsh consequences."

"Wh-what do you mean, father?" Noah asked.

Gozaburo looked over at Noah, saying, "I'm tired at your pathetic losing streak with this nobody. You are a Kaiba, and yet you obviously don't take it seriously! I never believed in you playing games in the first place, but I allowed it since it offered good publicity to our company. But, you losing is only making us look bad! And defrauding your own contracts are making us look even worst. That's why this time 'I' wrote the contract."

Noah's jaw dropped. "You mean...Seto was telling the truth??"

"Don't tell me you're actually worried about this, Noah. After all...a winner never believes in the possibility of defeat! If you win, you'll have everything you wanted. But, if you lose...I guarantee you, you'll have nothing! You're not going to be embarrassment to me anymore!" Gozaburo spat.

"But...but..." Noah swallowed.

"Now, play your game and prove to me that you can earn that Kaiba name you've been given!" Gozaburo stated.

"Y-yes, father...you'll see, Seto will be crushed in one more turn! I promise!" Noah said.

He now turned to Kaiba, who was smirking at him, and snapped, "I'm going to wipe that smirk off of your face, right now. I use the magic card Megamorph!!"

With one magic card, the 6000/5000 monster was now a 12000/10000 monster, making all his friends wonder how he could possibly win. "Now you understand why giving you those few extra life points meant so little to me. No matter what kind of monster you throw on the field, I will blast right through it and take the rest of your life points in one shot! Maybe now you understand the futility of your last moment's struggle. You can surrender if you want."

"I don't care if you summoned a 50000 strength monster, Noah...I'm going to take you down!" Kaiba spat, still angry over the insult of sacrificing a Blue Eyes. 'That's no way to treat a Blue Eyes. I will make you pay for that and for what you've done to the other Mokuba...'

"Such a pathetic boast. My monster is invincible!" Noah stated. "Besides...once it's my turn next round, the game is over. There is nothing you can do to win...this I guarantee you. I have all the cards, and you'll see that, soon enough. The only reason you don't lose this round is because I can't attack on the same turn. But, I 'can' do this...I place two cards face-down and end my turn."

Noah looked over his perfect strategy. The two cards he summoned on the field ensured his monster would be protected: they were Imperial Order and Royal Decree. Imperial Order protected his monster from all magic cards that were used. It would cost him 800 points to keep on the field, but after Kaiba's move, he wouldn't need it anymore, anyway...so he'd simply get rid of it. Royal Decree was a protection against Trap Cards. And if that wasn't a perfect combination...out of the remaining 5 cards he also held a Giant Trunade, a Stop Defense, and a Raigeki. So, anything Kaiba possibly put down this round Noah felt he would simply wipe off the field on his turn, anyway. 'It's perfect...there is absolutely nothing Seto can do. I win. Hahahahaha!'

Kaiba drew his card but didn't bother to even look at it. He didn't care...he already had the card in his hand he was going to play. Nothing else mattered to him. Just one card would end it all and ensure his victory. He looked up at Noah's cruel sneer, Gozaburo's cold and controlled look, over at the worried faces of Yugi's group and Mokie giving him the thumbs up, then finally at Noah's monster...the grotesque monstrosity that sucked the life out of the 4th dragon in order to power it up to what it was, now. 'You're wrong, Noah...power isn't everything. I'm going to topple your self-created god monster and prove that to you.'

Kaiba took two monsters from his graveyard, stating, "I am removing 2 monsters from play...a light and a dark monster, to summon this...Chaos Emperor Dragon!"

Noah blinked, wondering, 'What is it? What does it do? Why don't I have this monster? How rare is it??' He then spat, "Hmph...that thing is nothing to my power-house. There is no way a 3000 attack monster can defeat an 12000 strength!"

"The strength of this dragon is equal to a Blue Eyes." Kaiba said. "And it is this very monster that will deliver its vengeance for what you did to the other dragon! Allow me to show you the Emperor's fury! I sacrifice 1000 of my own life points to activate its special ability!"

"What are you doing? Is this an attack??" Noah asked.

"Not exactly...it's a self destruction!" Kaiba stated. Chaos Emperor cried out and exploded. It's massive blast caused everyone to lose everything that they had...their cards, their monsters, their magic and traps. They were all gone. Worst still...every card that was sent to the graveyard from either side counted as 300 damage points against Noah. Noah was hit with a whopping 4500 damage...in one shot, Noah had lost it all.


	58. C58 Discovery

**C58 Discovery**

Seto held Mokuba, making him feel good yet weird at the same time. It wasn't that his brother never hugged him. His brother had his own way of letting Mokuba know that he cared at all times. But...sitting here doing nothing but sitting in Seto's embrace was so alien. He couldn't remember the last time he and his brother did nothing but sit like this. It was actually...kinda nice.

Seto then pointed up, saying, "Hey, look Mokie...that cloud looks kinda like a dragon!"

But, Seto didn't get a response from him, instead hearing him sniff. "Hey, is that cold getting to you that much?" he asked, looking down at him, and noticed him quickly wipe the tears away.

"It's nothing." Mokuba muttered. "I think I just got something in my eye, that's all..."

At that, Seto smiled. "Well, I'll make sure not to tell your brother about that, either. After all...he'd probably just say I caused it and try to beat me up again."

At that, Mokuba laughed.

Suddenly, both quieted hearing the distant alarms from the Kaiba mansion go off. "Huh? What happened?" Seto asked.

"I don't know. Do you think it's over?" Mokuba asked, getting up.

"I'm not hearing anything." Seto said in concern. "We better check it out!"

Seto then began to ran, as Mokuba cried out, "Wait! But, no one can see you! Seto!" He then quickly ran after him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Noah was stunned. He couldn't believe he had lost. "No...it can't be. Nothing could have defeated my perfect strategy! It had no weakness! Nothing could have won!"

Kaiba snorted, "How ironic that you bragged how my card deck was nothing to your power, and yet you created a deck in order to steal my own power and use it against me. But, even that monstrosity you used to suck the life out of the 4th wasn't enough to stand up to me."

Noah glared up at him, as Kaiba added, "Now maybe you can finally face that facts of just how nothing you really are but a worthless coward who can only win through intimidation than relying an any real talent."

"How dare you!" Noah yelled, all red-faced from rage.

"Obviously you've forgotten just who you're dealing with, Seto! Nobody says something like that to my face, especially on my own property!"

Noah turned to his guards and ordered, "Guards! They will all be my captives, now! Force them into the mansion and have them all tortured until they beg for my forgiveness!"

The guards pointed their guns at them, as they all made a defensive circle against the guards, Mokie and the girls being placed protectively inside the circle.

"You're coming with us." one the guards ordered...making Yugi, Tristan, and Joey looked over at Kaiba, not sure what to do.

Kaiba replied, "We're not going anywhere." taking only a moment to glance at Gozaburo who hadn't said anything yet, and observing as if he was waiting for something.

'This is a test.' Kaiba realized, knowing Gozaburo didn't interfere yet for a reason...probably seeing if the group was going to cower and follow the guards in defeat.

"If you don't come along, we will shoot." the guard stated.

The others looked at Kaiba in greater concern, worried that if they didn't listen they were all going to get killed. "Seto...I don't want you to die." Mokie said, pulling on his coat.

But, Kaiba shooed him back with his hand, as he kept that cocky smirk on his face and added, "I don't think so. Even the most wealthy business wouldn't be able to cover up such a blood bath. And I don't think Gozaburo has any intention on doing jail time."

The guards hesitated, not wanting to shoot, either. Shooting invited guests that were unarmed, as well as women and children? They're lives would be over.

"Shoot them! I don't want to see their disgusting faces again!" Noah spat.

"That's enough, Noah!" Gozaburo said, causing the guards to lower their guns and breath easy, once again.

Gozaburo then approached Kaiba, looking him over and staring him down in an attempt to make the kid feel any kind of intimidation towards him. Yet, even now he was impressed at the amount of self-control this unknown kid had in himself. Not one hint of fear could be seen in those chiseled features of Kaiba. His face was like a stonewall, revealing nothing, which only intrigued his adopted father all the more. For what Gozaburo saw in Kaiba was what he so longed to have in his own son...which was obviously lacking so much in comparison.

He then gave Kaiba a smirk, stating, "You got a lot of nerve, for a nobody punk."

Kaiba gave a non-verbal grunt, offering nothing more in response.

Finally, Gozaburo then turned to Noah, saying, "You disappointed me, Noah. Obviously, you lack any of the expectations I had in you."

"What??" Noah asked, unable to believe his own father was taking the side of the person who had won. "But, father...it...it's not my fault! Seto cheated!!"

Everyone now looked at Noah, trying to figure out Noah's lame excuse this time.

"Oh?" Gozaburo asked. "And how so?"

"Seto was using cards he'd never had before!" Noah protested. "Obviously, he had borrowed cards from Yugi's store in order to help him out. He was barely using any of his own cards at all. Therefore, he didn't really win!"

Kaiba just shook his head, not even responding to that. It was the dumbest thing he ever heard.

"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard!" Gozaburo spat, taking the words right out of Kaiba's mouth. "You have all the money and power to get whatever cards you want, and you're blaming him for being ready against you?? Of course he's going to be prepared! Why weren't you??"

"But, I...but...but..." Noah nervously said, not sure what to say.

"I have had enough of your excuses!" Gozaburo spat.

"Wait!!" Noah then exclaimed. "That one card he played earlier...Kaibaman! That shouldn't even be a legal card! That was supposed to be my card! The only way he could have a card that looked like him is as if Pegasus made a specialty card just for him! So, that proves he cheated, because he had help from Duel Monster Creator himself in order to win!"

Kaiba gave a chuckle, stating, "Your going to protest a card that only helped you obtain one of my own dragons earlier in the game? Your pathetic attempt at trying to blame me for your own problems almost makes me feel sorry for you. Well...maybe not."

"I've heard enough out of you!" Noah spat. "If my guards can't shoot you down, then I order them to beat you all up!"

"They're not doing anything of the sort!" Gozaburo spat. "My guards will no longer listen to you, Noah...you don't deserve that kind of power!"

"What? But, father...wh-what do you mean?" Noah asked.

Gozaburo explained, "You're sore attempt at blaming cheating over your own lack of talent makes me sick! You are nothing but a disappointment in my eyes."

That really hurt Noah's feelings, the pain clearly seen in his eyes. "But, father...you have to believe me! He is pulling some kind of trick! He had to cheat! I've battled against him tons of times in the past, and his talent pales in comparison to what you've seen! He couldn't even beat his own friends before! There's something wrong, here! He...he's not even this strong!"

As Noah continued to rant, Noah was even beginning to absorb his own words. Now that he thought about it, there was something different about him. But, what? Why was Seto different? Why did he seem so dramatically changed the last two times he fought him? He pointed at Kaiba, saying, "In fact, anytime I ever faced him, he would cower in fear from the mere look at me! And yet, nothing seems to faze him, now! Maybe he was hypnotized or something!"

Joey now laughed, saying, "Oh, yeah...now he beat ya because someone brain-washed him to do it, right?"

Even Noah realized that sounded stupid, and yet...he couldn't think of what else could have made this person so different. And...his clothes were changed. Did that mean something? Noah looked at the disappointment in his Dad, and added, "But, if you knew him, you'd know what I'm talking about. Something is wrong, here! Maybe, maybe he has a twin..."

Noah was desperate to say anything just about now to get back in his Dad's good graces. But, nothing he said seemed to be working, at all.

Gozaburo himself had never seen Seto before Kaiba came in and made that deal, and had no way of verifying if anything Noah said was true or not. Then again, he didn't care to, either. Everything his son was saying sounded too stupid to bother looking into. He was hypnotized? He had a twin no one ever knew of? He was surprised Noah didn't come out and say he was cloned.

Either way, Gozaburo had heard enough. Every word out of Noah's mouth presently felt like another stab of embarrassment that Noah was even his kid, and felt it made him look even worst. He didn't even acknowledge his son's words, instead asking him, "So, where is that card you stole?"

"But, father!" Noah still protested.

Little Yugi poked out from behind Kaiba and pointed at him, saying, "He played that card in his duel against Seto! It's still in his deck!"

Gozaburo then held out his hand, waiting for Noah to hand it to him. Noah sighed and handed him the card. Gozaburo then handed the card to Kaiba. "You have what you came for. Now, get off my property."

Then without even looking at his son, he turned and walked away - not finding Noah even worthy of acknowledging. And any remaining alarms were then shut off, and much to Noah's surprise...all the guards started to leave.

"Where the hell do you think your going? Get back here!" Noah demanded.

But, the guards ignored him, as if he's not even there. After all...Gozaburo had already clearly stated to them that he no longer had any power over the orders of the guards. They all left Noah alone to tend with Kaiba, Yugi and the others.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Shortly after Gozaburo and the guards had left, Seto suddenly burst through the bushes with Mokuba running in after him.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked. "I heard the alarms stop, so..."

Kaiba glared at him and snapped, "Idiot! What if a guard or Gozaburo himself had seen you!"

Mokuba groaned, "I tried to tell him not to come out, Seto...but he wouldn't listen."

"You did not! I never heard that!" Seto argued.

Kaiba grabbed Seto by the collar and snapped, "Don't argue with my brother. This is obviously your fault!"

As they argued with each other, Noah looked over the scene stunned and confused. "But...how can this be? What? How...how can there be two of you?" Then with a trembling finger, he pointed at the two Mokuba's. "And two Mokuba's? How is this possible?"

Kaiba simply mocked him. "I don't know what your talking about, Noah. You must be seeing things."

Though Kaiba was inwardly concerned about him seeing Mokuba, this wasn't the time or place to show that weakness. So, he then turned to the others, warning them, "Let's get out of here, before someone else starts seeing things, like Noah."

Then finally, it all clicked in Noah's brain...that was why this Seto could so easily defeat him. He wasn't Seto, at all! He didn't know who he was, but they deceived him!

His eyes went wide with the realization that they really 'did' cheat!! "I'll get you for this, Seto!

You wont get away with this! Now I know for a fact you cheated!"

Kaiba turned and glared at him, "I don't know what you're talking about. I never cheated. You wanted to face me, so here I am."

"But...you're not even Seto!!" Noah spat in frustration.

Kaiba smirked, saying, "Of course I am. I'm Seto Kaiba."

Noah blinked, not understanding what he meant. How could Seto be a Kaiba? What did this mean??

Kaiba then added, "And unless you want even harsher punishment from your father, you wont do a damn thing, Noah."

Noah knew he was right. Then he smirked and said, "Not after I tell father what I've just learned."

He then turned, and ran into his house, crying to his father that he was a fake, not the real Seto, and that he cheated.

Seto and the others looked at Kaiba, concerned.

"What do we do now?" Seto asked.

"Yeah...after his old man learns of this, we're going to be in for even more trouble." Joey said.

"Noah can tell his father anything he likes. Gozaburo wont believe a word he says. In fact he's only going to make himself look even more stupid, and humiliate himself in front of his father. Gozaburo won't like hearing his son whining about more excuses, still refusing to accept his defeat. Without some form of proof beyond just his word, no one will believe him."

Seto then snapped. "So, ha! I didn't get caught after all...did I?"

Joey said, "We will if we don't get out of here!"

Yugi agreed. "Yeah, let's go!"

Kaiba then added, "I'm actually amazed you didn't do any more harm then you did. With you running around lose, it's surprising you didn't get us all caught."

But, before Seto could start another spitting match, Kaiba had already begun to listen to the others and walk away from the mansion, to ensure no one looked out and witnessed there was indeed double versions of both Seto and Mokuba. The last thing he wanted was any confirmations that Noah had told any bit of truth, as little as there might have been. The others scrambled to catch up with him, as they headed back to the game shop.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Just after entering the game shop, everyone froze hearing voices from the dinning room area.

"Stay here...I'll check it out." Yugi said quietly and went into the dinning room area to investigate.

A moment later, Yugi came back over, looking concerned.

"What's going on, Yugi?" Seto asked.

"Um...it's your mother. She's here."

"What?" Seto asked in surprise. "What's she doing here?"

"She was worried about you." Yugi replied. "I guess she had been trying to call all day, and wanted to take Mokuba shopping. Grandpa told her that you probably took him to work with you."

"Where would she get the idea that I work?" Seto asked.

Kaiba slapped his head from the stupid question. "Idiot. I already told you that you're now in business with Mr. Foley. Can't you remember anything?"

It frighteningly reminded Kaiba of Joey, as Seto stood there letting the gears turn in his head as he tried to remember that conversation. Finally the light bulb turned on, and he said, "Oh, yeah! I guess I forgot about that."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, adding, "You are not me. There's just no possible way..."

"Hey, shut up!" Seto said, finally starting to grasp that when Kaiba said that, it was an insult. "A lot of things have happened since then, you know. It's hard to keep track of everything!"

Yugi then turned to Kaiba, stating, "You two should hide. You can both wait in the spare bedroom upstairs."

Kaiba smirked, "Why should we hide? Hopefully, we wont be here much longer. Besides, I have things I need to discuss with my mother, before I leave."

The comment caused Mokuba to look up at his brother in surprise.

Seto growled, then shouted out, "She's not your mother!"

"What's the matter? Jealous?" Kaiba asked. He purposely made the 'mother' remark, knowing it would upset Seto. And for some reason, when it came to the parents he especially liked pissing Seto off, but wasn't sure why. Was it jealousy? After all, Seto had the one thing that Kaiba had truly wanted and could never have. Even now, if he had the option...he'd gladly take if from Seto. But, this family was also Mokie's family...therefore, it was Seto's guaranteed protection from Kaiba ever attempting to take them away.

"Mom can't see the two of you with us here. You know that!" Seto spat.

"And why not?" Kaiba asked. "Can't that minute brain of yours handle the idea of telling her the truth?"

"I don't want to upset her!" Seto stated.

"Who said anything about upsetting her?" Kaiba asked. "Fine...if you're so worried about it, then why don't you take Mokie and go upstairs and hide?"

"Why should we have to leave?" Seto asked. "It's 'our' world!"

"Too bad." Kaiba stated. "I have questions that I need answered...answers that only she can give me. And I'm not leaving without getting them, and ensuring that Mokuba's safety will be a permanent one."

Seto blinked, "Uh, what do you mean permanently? We have the adoption papers."

"You really are an idiot...you know that?" Kaiba said.

"I am not!" Seto yelled.

However...all this yelling had attracted Seto's mother's attention, who had been in the kitchen talking to Yugi's grandpa, and caused her to make her outside the door of the game shop where everyone was.

Everyone quieted after hearing a gasp inside the doorway, and turned to see her standing there with her mouth agape, witnessing the sight of her son arguing with…her son?

"What...what's going on here?"


	59. C59 Explaining

C59 Explaining 

Seto backed away in a panic. "Oh, uh...hi, Mom! Yeah, I guess this looks kinda strange, huh?

Well...I can explain. Really!"

Kaiba then casually leaned against the outside wall, adding, "Well, go ahead, then. I'm ready to hear this explanation."

"You're not helping!" Seto snapped.

"Seto?" she asked, looking over at Seto, then over at Kaiba, desperately trying to figure out which one was her real son, and even more confused why she honestly couldn't tell which one was the real one.

They both seemed like her son in their own interesting ways. But, Seto was like the irresponsible teenager she knew before he started to finally show signs of growing up. While Kaiba was the man she believed he had turned into. Someone who had finally woken up to the real world from being a school kid, and having the guts to go out there and make a life for himself. He was dressing up, he had taken up a business with a partner, he had even helped to adopt the newest son in their family...Mokuba.

It was as if his past self and present self had been broken up into two different people before her very eyes. And why was there two Mokuba's as well? Plus, she had barely gotten to see their new family member, since Seto had been spending so much time with them. So, there was no way she would know who was the real one of them, after barely knowing him.

"I-I uh…" Seto muttered out, once again stumbling on his words, without an idea what to say.

The mother then approached Seto, looking him over for a moment, before asking, "Why can't I tell you two apart?"

"What??!" Seto then asked, horrified over such a question. "How can you 'not' tell?? I'm your real son! Don't you know that??"

An amused smirk formed on Kaiba's face as she asked that, but it was masked immediately when she turned and approached him.

As the mother looked him over, she finally realized there was something else different about them...not just the slight attitude changes and clothing. The emotions she could see in Kaiba's eyes seemed so much more intense then her own son. And she remembered seeing that intensity before...it was the first time her son started showing changes in himself that convinced her he was growing up.

She looked up at him sadly, saying, "Then...you're not my real son."

From her words, his eyes widened and reflected even more emotion...pain. Somehow, those words had hurt him. But, why? If the one behind her was her son, then why did those words seem to bother him so?

Kaiba finally began to believe perhaps he should have listened to Seto and pushed more on sending him and Mokie upstairs to talk to her in private. At first he didn't even understand himself why he was pushing at all to not keep their secret hidden from her. Perhaps because it pissed Seto off so much, and an unsatisfied Seto pleased him to no end, since he couldn't stand him so much. But, after she said those words, he realized it was so much more than their petty quarrel.

The fact of the matter was, if he and Mokuba were going to leave and never see her again, he didn't want to leave with her not knowing of his existence. Why should Seto get all the credit of everything 'he' had done since he had been there? When he had never met this Seto, these things really didn't originally matter to him, because everyone was originally focused on him as the person of that world. But, having Seto in his face made him realize that his parents would only think all his accomplishments, their time together...everything would be Seto's. And he didn't like that.

Even if he never saw her again, he wanted her to acknowledge him that he once existed in her eyes, and wasn't just some faze of her own son.

But, her words had stabbed him like a knife. Because he had allowed himself to be seen along with Seto, and prove that he was not him, she now no longer acknowledge him as her own son. And he realized that even being a shadow of Seto might have been better than not being recognized at all.

She gave a weak smile, saying, "I should have known it was too good to be true that my own son actually learned to dress nicely."

"Hey!" Seto spat. 'I don't dress that bad...do I?' he thought.

"But, I don't understand. Why do you seem upset over what I had just said?" she asked him.

Kaiba looked away, hardening up his heart once again, as he coldly retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about." He then walked passed her, adding, "You're right...you're 'not' my family."

He then stood loyally by Mokuba's side, glaring down at her almost challengingly, as he said, "This is my family. And as far as I'm concerned...that's all that matters."

Mokuba sadly grabbed onto Kaiba's pants, doing his best to support him.

She shook her head, saying, "But, that's the strangest thing. I can't see a difference. You still feel like my son. You don't feel like a stranger, at all. But, if you're not my son, then...who are you?"

Seto attempted to open his mouth, but once again nothing came out. Finally, he helplessly turned to Yugi, in a silent beg for help.

'_Aibou...do not help him.'_ Yami told him.

Yugi blinking, thinking back, _'But, why not?'_

'This is a personal matter, Yugi. Seto needs to do this on his own. He now has a new brother that he is going to be responsible for, and a new business to run that he didn't even start. He has to learn to do things without the help of others, all the time. Kaiba may have a tendency to insult him a lot, but perhaps in a way he has been doing this in an attempt to encourage him to do things on his own.'

'_I see.' _Yugi told him. _'Well, if our silence can help him, then that's exactly what I'll do.'_

Seto was surprised when Yugi simply lowered his head, offering him no support.

At this, Kaiba turned to Seto and snapped, "Are you going to give your answer today, or do I have to do that for you, as well?" He would have been rather amused by Seto's stupidity, if he wasn't still reeling from that personal blow a minute ago. Now all he could feel towards Seto was disgust.

"Will you shut the hell up and let me think??" Seto snapped.

"Seto!" the mother snapped at him. She approached, giving him a smack on the arm, and pointed at him, stating, "I raised you better to speak in that way! You now have a little brother that is going to be looking up to you. I do not want to hear that kind of language in front of him!"

Kaiba approved, since he also was sick of Seto swearing around now both of them.

The mother continued, as she said, "I certainly hope this isn't what you have been doing all your time with him, teaching him with that filthy mouth of yours!"

"No no...it's not like that, at all!" Seto exclaimed, waving his hands defensively in front of him.

"Then stop stalling, and tell me what is happening!" she snapped.

His head lowered and he nodded. "Okay...I'll tell you as much as I know."

She then pointed at Kaiba, saying, "First tell me who this is."

"His name is Seto Kaiba." Seto said. "And he's...from another world."

"He's an alien?" she asked sarcastically, disbelieving.

"No, that's not what I meant!" he said. "I mean...like another dimension. It's like this world, but it's different. I mean, it's still Earth and everything. But...it's like being in a world where things didn't happen the same way. Like...his last name's Kaiba because, well..."

"That's not important." Kaiba said, finally stepping in. "Get out of the way. Obviously, you can't explain your way out of a garbage bag."

Refusing to let Kaiba take over the conversation, Seto then suddenly blurted to her, "It's cuz you and Dad are dead in his world!" causing everyone to freeze.

The Mom blinked, and looked over at Kaiba. As for Kaiba...if looks could kill, Seto would be lying on the ground dead by now. And if the mother wasn't there, he would have punched him for such a comment.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Yugi had finally managed to usher everyone back into the game shop and sit down in the living room to quietly talk.

Seto had managed to explain everything else to the mother from what he learned about Kaiba ending up in this universe up until now. Kaiba only needed to intervene a couple times to correct things, when Seto couldn't seem to manage to choke out the fact that Kaiba was the one that saved Mokie the first time, and got the business and the adoption. But, he was more than happy about smearing how Kaiba was willing to not save Mokie, to instead deal with a cutthroat businessman like Gozaburo, instead.

So, after the mother had kept them from trying to kill each other, things finally calmed back down.

"But, how did he end up getting here in the first place?" she asked.

Seto shrugged, saying, "Uh...something about this lady called Aiko." He turned to Kaiba, asking, "Right?"

"Good enough." Kaiba replied.

She now looked expectedly to Kaiba for answers. "It's not important." Kaiba stated.

The mother replied, "It's important to me."

He then crossed his arms defiantly and snapped, "What do you care? I'm not even your son, remember?"

She then approached him, saying, "That's not fair. I was told he was my son...what else was I suppose to think?"

Then smiling down at him, since he was sitting on the couch and she wasn't, she brought her hand over and flicked it through his fine hair. "But, that definitely explains why I couldn't tell the difference which one was my son. It's because you're both my son."

Kaiba then hesitated, then looked up at her... confused by this strange feeling of emotion he had trouble identifying.

"He's not your son!" Seto spat, once again feeling jealousy burning through him. "He's not even from this world!"

She then gave a chuckle, and turned back to Seto, saying, "He's you, Seto...why are you fighting with him so much?"

"He's not me, at all!" Seto spat. "He's nothing like me!"

"Thank goodness for that..." Kaiba muttered.

The mother sighed, giving up on the whole thing. Obviously no matter what she said, they were not going to get along. She turned back to Kaiba, asking, "If your parents have...died, then who's raising you now?"

"We don't need anyone to raise us!" Mokuba boasted next to Kaiba. "We take care of ourselves! Isn't that right, Seto?"

Kaiba nodded, but didn't face either of them from what was said.

"Well, how long ago did we, I mean your parents...die? Actually...was I even your mother in your world?" she asked.

Kaiba looked back up, and nodded to the second question. "You died giving birth to Mokuba. Dad only lasted a few more years after that, falling apart when you were gone."

The Mother paled from Kaiba's rather blunt reply.

Seto turned and snapped, "You don't have to say it so harsh, you know!"

"It's okay, Seto." she said. She then looked back over at Kaiba, saying, "It's no wonder you seemed so upset when you first arrived here. I remember it well. It must have been strange to see your father and me, again."

Kaiba looked away, refusing to talk regarding these awkwardly emotional moments.

The mother found it interesting. Even though the two insisted they were not the same, she couldn't help but find the similarities between them. Even the one who called himself Seto Kaiba found it difficult to talk in certain moments. Seto had trouble speaking when he felt he might get in trouble or say something that was incriminating against himself. While, this 'other' Seto seemed to have trouble talking when it had to do with personal matters.

"I'm so sorry..." she then stated.

After saying that, he finally turned to her...but his response was anger, as he snapped, "I don't want your pity, nor do I need it. We've been just fine our own without you. It wont change anything when we're gone!"

"Seto!" Mokuba said, realizing his brother's words may probably hurt the mother. But, Kaiba didn't seem to care. He stood up and walked out of the room.

Mokuba then got up, saying, "He didn't mean it that way, miss...I mean 'mom' whatever I should call you. We've been okay, but he still misses you not being there."

She smiled sadly, saying, "If he's been without a mother for that long, then he probably barely even remembers me."

"That's not true!" Mokuba insisted. "One of the reasons he came here is because this genie convinced him that with his magic, we could have a family again."

Everyone was stunned hearing this. Kaiba had mentioned being tricked by a genie, but no one knew what this trick involved.

"So, he was trying to steal my parents from me??!" Seto snapped.

"It wasn't like that!" Mokuba said. "The way they said it, he didn't know he was taking over someone else's world. The guy made him think the world just changed around him. That's why as soon as he found out the truth, he was fighting to get back."

"It's true, Seto." Yugi said, remembering that time.

Mokuba looked down. "He still wanted his parents. But, the reality is...that's not going to happen. Even a genie can't solve that kind of problem."

She smiled and lightly frazzled Mokuba's hair. "You're a good brother, Mokuba. I'm glad that I managed to meet you, as well."

Mokuba smiled up at her, saying, "Thanks!"

"But, you have a Kaiba name. So, you must have been raised by a Kaiba, right?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Mokuba said. "We ended up in an orphanage and was adopted by Gozaburo. He died a few years ago."

"A few years?" she asked. "So, who raised you after that?"

"He did." Mokuba answered.

The mother looked stunned. "But, Seto's barely 18, now. Your brother had to be more like 15 or 16. How would he possibly raise you at that age?"

"You'd be surprised what I can do." Kaiba smirked at her, after finally drifting back into the doorway. "I'm not like that loser son of yours, who'd be lucky if he could tie his own shoes."

"I can tie my own shoes!!"

Kaiba continued, stating, "I am the CEO of Kaiba Corp, which happens to be a multi-billion dollar gaming corporation. Besides that, I am also the official guardian responsible for taking care of Mokuba."

"But, you can't take care of him and do all that. You're barely 18...you shouldn't be doing all that, while you're so young." she said.

"Age has nothing to do with it." Kaiba said. "I've been raising him ever since I was 10. Do you honestly think being 18 is going to matter? We've already had our share of leeches claiming they would watch over us...family members jumping at the chance to take care of us, only instead robbing every drop of inheritance you gave us before tossing us away. Fortunately, if something happens to you now, that can't happen here since Seto's already 18."

"But...we had the will made to make sure you would be protected." she said.

He gave a weak smile, though he found nothing amusing, saying, "Well, obviously you missed something. Not that it mattered, anyway. After all, if the only reason they wanted us there was for the will money, then it was better off we weren't there, at all."

"I'm so..." but then the mother stopped and looked back up at Kaiba, once again glaring down at her. She smiled, saying, "Of course, you don't want to hear that, do you? You know...you're a lot like your father."

Again, Kaiba looked away, as an attempt to avoid another awkward emotional moment.

Someone coughing brought her attention back to Mokuba, who sat back down looking pale and weak.

As the mother bent down to check his head, Kaiba was there an instant after, muttering, "He's been sick."

"Oh...I didn't know. Mr. Motou, could he rest here a little bit?" she asked.

"But, of course." he said. "There's a spare room right upstairs. Feel free to use it all you want."

Kaiba picked Mokuba up, as she turned back to him, saying, "I'm sure traveling dimensions can't be very good on him."

"No." Kaiba said, glaring over at Seto. "No, it's not."

Seto swallowed.

After picking Mokuba up, he headed directly up the stairs with him.

"Hold up!" Angie said. "I'm coming, too!"

"Wait, Angie!" Seto snapped. He was glad that Kaiba was finally going to be away from his mother, but he didn't want Angie going with him, neither.

"What is it?" she asked, as Kaiba went up the stairs.

"Why are you trying to follow him? Let him go." he said.

"I need to see him about something." Angie said.

Seto snapped, "You don't need to see him about anything. You heard him earlier...he doesn't even care about you!"

"Seto...that's a terrible thing to say to your sister!" the mother said.

And Angie looked equally upset about it.

"But, it's true!" Seto said. "It's what he said...he admitted that to everyone! I'm just trying to protect her. In his world, he doesn't have a sister, so...he only sees her as a stranger."

Angie sniffed, and was ready to sit back down.

"Angie..." Joey now said. "Don't you listen to him. Kaiba does care about you...he told me, himself."

Everyone looked amazed at that, except for the mother who just smiled.

"He did? He really did?" she asked.

"Yeah...maybe not in those words, but..." Joey muttered. "He didn't mean what he said. The guy's just trying to protect you, cuz he knows he aint gonna be around here forever, you know? So, go on...go see him."

"Thanks, Joey!" she said, as she hugged him then ran upstairs.

"Seto..." the mother said. "Is something wrong? You've been awfully moody."

"Ahh...he's just jealous." Joey grinned.

"Shut up!" Seto snapped. He then crossed his arms and sulked into the couch. "It's just, not fair! The guys colder than a wet fish! He treats everyone like garbage and doesn't care about anyone, yet everyone seems to like him more then they do me!"

Tristan snickered at that comment.

"Dude..." Joey laughed. "You sound like such a little brat saying that."

"Dammit, Joey...I swear I'm gonna kick your a-..."

"Seto!" the mother spat. "What did I tell you about your language?"

"Sorry, Mom..." he sulked, as Mokie still clung to him, anyway.

The mother then placed a hand on his shoulder, saying, "Seto...you have to understand that this Kaiba is also you."

"He's not me!" he spat.

"Yes...he is. He grew up very differently, probably making him seem much colder. But, instead...his heart is just as good as yours is. And others can see that. You have to stop thinking he's some other person trying to compete with you and realize that he 'is' you. Everyone else sees it, that's why they like him. You should feel happy about that. Because if they didn't like him, then they wouldn't like you." she said.

He blinked, absorbing those words for a moment. But, then he shrugged them off and looked away, saying, "But, he's not like me. And he 'is' competing. He even told me he'd also take Mokie away from me, and take them both with him!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it." she said.

"But, he did!" Seto insisted.

The Mom added, "This other you probably says a lot of things he doesn't mean, very much like yourself."

"I wish people would stop comparing him to me! He's nothing like me!" Seto spat.

The mother smiled and shook her head. Obviously, Seto had not changed from being childish at all...which was too bad. She actually liked the idea of possibly going clothes shopping with him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba placed Mokuba down in bed, saying, "Rest up, kiddo...you've had a long day."

"Thanks, Seto." Mokuba smiled.

"Do you want me to stay here with you?" he asked.

"No...I'll be okay. I'm just tired. Why don't you go back downstairs? We may not have much time left for you to see your Mom." he said.

"She's not important here." Kaiba said. "You are."

"Thanks, Seto...but really, I'm okay. Anyway, we have the rest of our lives to see each other. So, go on..." Then to make sure he did, Mokuba then rolled over, saying, "Besides...if you stay here, you're only going to keep me awake."

"Who are you trying to kid?" Kaiba smirked. "After sleeping through that look-alike's screaming matches, you could probably sleep through an earthquake and not be bothered."

"Is he asleep, yet?" Angie's voice suddenly came out and asked.

Kaiba glanced over, then back at Mokuba who sure enough looked like he was just about asleep, now. "Just about." he replied.

"That's good...I didn't want to bother him." she said.

"Shouldn't you be looking after your little brother?" he asked, not looking at her.

She looked down, saying, "I...wanted to say good-bye. I may not have that chance again, so..."

"What do you care? Did you forget what I said to you earlier?" he asked coldly.

She looked down, saying, "No. But...Joey said you didn't mean it."

'Stupid mutt.' Kaiba thought, not surprised that Joey wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. And people wonder why he doesn't like to gossip. "And what makes you think that Bonkotsu knows anything?"

Angie then approached him, looking determined. He glanced over at her as she surprisingly gave him a big hug, saying, "I will miss you, big brother. I wont forget you...no matter what you say to me."

Kaiba hesitated, still not used to the weird sense of closeness towards anyone that wasn't his brother. But, after a minute...those walls began to crumble, and he finally allowed himself to hug her back.

She smiled, thinking, 'Thank you.' after praying to the stars above that he really did care, like Joey said. After a long moment, she finally pulled away, saying, "Don't feel too bad, big brother. There's got to be another me in your world, somewhere. Maybe she'll feel this way towards you, too."

He looked down and smiled. "There is another you. And, no...she doesn't."

"Oh, my god!" she said. "You mean, you explained this other world to her?"

He muttered out, "I think she understands a bit about this world. But, no...I didn't."

She then smacked him, saying, "Then how do you know how she feels? Don't just assume things! Tell her!"

He looked back over at her and blinked, for a moment forgetting how oddly the Angie of this world could behave. Then hardening his resolve again, he retorted. "I already have all the family I need in Mokuba. I don't..."

"Oh, will you stop it, already!" she said. "God...for being so 'I'm all that' and everything, it's amazing how shy you are!"

'Shy??' he thought, his eyes widening from the very implication. He couldn't imagine that him and shy could even fit in the same sentence, and she thought he was shy??

"Just 'tell her.'" Angie said. "And I don't mean tell her in that 'I don't care about you' attitude of yours. You at least need to give her a chance!"

"Listen..." he said in a voice that was at least attempting to speak to her on an even level. "Don't presume to know about things you have no idea about. I'm quite sure your other version would be more than happy to jump at a chance to be the brother of someone as famous and rich as I am. But, that's pretty much the problem, isn't it? I can't afford to let just anyone..."

"I'm not just anyone!!" Angie angrily spat at him.

He sadly replied, "You're also not her."

"But, I have the same heart...just like you and Seto do. We may not have the same past, but we're the same people." she said.

Kaiba replied, "You might be right. But, this Angie has her own life, and didn't grow up adopted to me or my family. Without that history, a person can't just suddenly be together with a complete stranger. It doesn't happen that way."

"Well...maybe someday you'll get closer, huh?" she asked.

"Maybe..." he said, just to make her feel better. She smiled back at him.

Kaiba finally stood, saying, "Come on...let's head back down. Mokuba didn't want anyone waking him."

They then headed back down, with Angie feeling much better now knowing Kaiba really did see her as a sister, as she thought, 'You're wrong, Seto. The Angie of that world never had the history that me or my brother had. And yet, you see me as a sister. So, if you can do it I know that other Angie can, as well.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When they came down, Kaiba noticed that Seto was crunched into a chair with his arms and legs wrapped around himself, while grumbling incoherently.

He didn't even want to know, so he ignored it and approached the mother, who was presently standing.

"How's he doing?" she asked, while presently playing with Mokie's hair, who had given up on Seto at the moment and was wrapped around the mother.

Kaiba was pleased to see that Mokie was finally starting to open to the mother, as well. He then said, "There's been something I've been wanting to ask you."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Angie told me awhile ago that you had a miscarriage and lost the child. But, that can't be possible. After all, Mokuba is my brother. So, if you lost your child, then how is the Mokuba of this world even existing?" Kaiba asked.

That finally got Seto's attention, who stopped acting like a spoiled brat for the moment, and listened.

"Yes, I did lose him." she said sadly, looking down a Mokie. "I can only assume in this world, he's not my real son."

"I suppose that could have been a possibility, except for one problem." Kaiba said. "In order to get here a second time, I had to enter many other dimensions before finding my way back. And in each world I've been in, every time Mokuba was still my brother. The possibility is too much against it, for your claim to be true."

She sighed, looking down. Then taking Kaiba's hand, she said, "Seto...I normally tried not to talk about it, because it was too painful. But, since you are asking...I will tell you."

"Hello! I'm here, too!" Seto spat, after getting up and approaching where they were, to ensure the mother noticed him.

She smiled, and touched Seto's face, saying, "I will tell you both, Seto. Now, go sit down...both of you."

Kaiba moved to where Angie was and casually sat down, as he glanced over, knowing Seto would be fuming by making such a move. Then Seto sat down in a seat next to where his mother was originally sitting, giving Kaiba a cocky grin knowing he'd get to sit next to his mother, as some sort of victory.

But, the mother sat down in a chair away from everyone to tell her story, causing Kaiba to look amused and make Seto pout. And just to make matters worst for Seto, after the mother traded places, Mokie ended up running over to Angie. And from there, Kaiba purposely goaded him over to sit on his lap, making Seto look like smoke was about to pour out of his ears.

The mother took a breath, saying, "You have no idea how frightening it was to hear how your parents died, Seto." as she looked at Kaiba. "While I was pregnant, I continually had complications with the newest baby. My husband was in fear for my health and had considered if I should have an abortion to ensure I would be fine. But, I couldn't bare to think of getting rid of him."

Seto gawked at her, unable to believe that his own mother could have shared the same fate as Kaiba's. 'Why didn't she ever tell me this before?'

Kaiba was a bit shaken from this news, but only Mokie was able to tell since he was now holding him more tightly on his lap.

"While I was in labor, they said I was having problems. As it was, it was already going to be premature. And after finally giving birth to him, I had to be faced with the news that my poor child didn't make it barely 15 minutes after having him. He simply came out too young and wasn't healthy or strong enough to make it." The mother than looked away, feeling heart-broken all over again. "That is why I say it's impossible for Mokuba to be my son. Because my son died."

"Mother..." Seto whispered, feeling her pain.

Kaiba then stood with Mokie in his arms as he went over to her and showed him to her, saying, "No he didn't. Because he's right here..."

"But, how?" she asked.

"You were in a hospital and taking the word of the nurses and doctors over there. While you're weak and strapped in a bed, you can't do very much to confirm otherwise." Kaiba stated.

"You're father was there, too." she explained. "But, no...we had no reason to not believe them. We didn't ask to see the body, we didn't want to. It hurt enough to know. And we had no reason to doubt it...the whole attempt to have him was a struggle. After what happened, I never wanted to try again. That's why we adopted Angie."

Angie smiled at that, as the mother turned her attention on her.

"Mokuba." the mother now smiled back over at him, stroking his hair behind his ears since Kaiba brought him over to her. "You know, it was a long time ago...but I believe that was the very name I was going to give my second son. In fact, after I heard he died, I was crying and calling his name. Who knows...maybe someone at the hospital heard my voice."

Seto then asked, "Mother...is it possible that Mokuba could really be my brother too, like Kaiba says?"

"I don't know." she said. "How could we even find that out?"

"Simple." Kaiba answered. "We'll have a doctor do a DNA test on both Mokuba and you. And this time, we'll make sure this place isn't affiliated with the hospital you gave birth at."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x- x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Aibou means Partner


	60. C60 Discussion

**C60 Discussion**

Kaiba replied, "A simple DNA test will give us all the proof that we need."

"Are you nuts? I've heard those kinda tests are way expensive!" Seto said.

Kaiba replied, "I suppose that depends on what you see as expensive. Since you never had a job before, five dollars is probably a large expense."

"Shut up!" Seto snapped.

"They're not very expensive." Kaiba stated.

"Oh, yeah...coming from a self-proclaimed multi-billionaire who probably burns his money to keep warm! Like you would know what a normal person sees as expensive or not!" Seto snapped.

"Seto..." the mother warned, which didn't seem to help any.

"It's because of my wealth that let's me know the general cost. I had to have mine on file every time some moron showed up proclaiming to be some long lost relative of mine. So, are you done making stupid comments, yet?" Kaiba asked.

Seto turned away, and pouted, "I'm not stupid."

"Then stop acting like you are." Kaiba replied.

"Hey, I'm not acting..."

"Yes, I know." Kaiba added.

"I'm not going just sit here and take this!" Seto said, standing up.

"...Seto, please!" the mother said.

"How come you don't yell at him!??" he whined, pointing childishly at Kaiba.

The others just rolled their eyes at the response, as Kaiba explained, "Because I'm not the one sounding like a three year old." while trying not to laugh at him.

"Mom!!" he whined some more.

She sighed, and said to Kaiba, "Seto...please don't tease him."

This time, Kaiba brought his hand to his mouth, trying to keep himself from laughing at the comment.

Angie then cleared her throat to get their attention, while at the same time trying to also help keep them from fighting. "Seto...how can we be sure that Noah or Gozaburo wont try and take Mokuba back again?"

"I already told him that!" Seto snapped. "But, nooo...he insisted to deal with him anyway, instead of saving-..."

"We know, already!" Angie said. "Will you cut it out?"

"No, I'm not going to stop! He was being a jerk to my brother!" Seto argued.

Angie retorted, "Well, you're being a big jerk, right now!"

"Why are you taking his side? And why is everyone calling him Seto? He's not Seto...'I'm' Seto!" Seto pouted.

Angie replied, "Because he's right. You 'are' acting like a three year old!"

"Shut up, I am not!" Seto spat.

"Stop it, all of you!" the mother finally snapped, shutting everyone up. "Actually, Seto has a point. It's a bit confusing calling you both Seto. Maybe I should call you Seto 2." she said to Kaiba.

Both Kaiba and Seto turned to her and said, "No!"

She blinked, surprised. For once, they actually agreed. "Why not?"

"Because, he's not a Seto at all!" Seto argued.

Kaiba replied, "Because I'm the first, not the second."

"Hey, up yours...I am the first!" Seto snapped.

Kaiba muttered, "The first moron, perhaps."

"Will you two cut it out! God!!" Angie said. "And I thought me and my brother fight all the time. You two are impossible! I 'was' asking a question here, you know!!"

Kaiba then turned and replied, "Because Gozaburo never had his name on anything regarding us before. His reputation means everything. If a breach of contract and kidnapping end up in the news with his name on it, his stocks will plummet. Nothing means more to him then money and power."

"...sounds like someone I know." Seto muttered. After the mother gave him a dirty look, Seto once again quickly shut up.

"But, are you sure that's going to make Noah stop?" Angie asked.

Kaiba replied, "From what I've seen at the battle we had, Gozaburo is not going to give Noah the power to do anything else to us. But, even if he does somehow manage to get around his father, you will have both adoption papers and a DNA test for proof...making it possible to charge him with kidnapping, which is why his father wont let this happen again, since it would make him look bad."

"Yeah...but first we'd need proof that they even have him, and then we'd be in the same mess!" Seto spat.

Kaiba then stood and approached Seto, scaring him and making the mother worry. "Listen, loser...you can't sit there and whine like a child all your life. I'm not going to be here to watch him constantly. I'm going to be forced to let you handle this part of watching over your own brother. You're going to have to learn to do 'something' to protect him. You'll be running your own business, and I'm hoping if you don't mess that up, that you might actually learn something in the world. If you do your part, he'll be fine. And you better...because if I have to come back again, I 'will' make you regret it!"

"Seto!" the mother said to Kaiba, now.

"So, tell me." Kaiba then added, ignoring the mother at the moment. "Are you going to do your part to protect him, or not?"

"Yes." Seto answered, finally acting mature for a moment. "Of course, I am."

"Then there shouldn't be any problems. After all...you insisted that you can do this part. So, prove it, already!" Kaiba then turned and went back to his seat.

The room was quiet for a moment after the tension. But, after Kaiba calmly took his seat, he crossed his hands, stating, "Perhaps we can do something else, as well...which might help your matter in this case."

"Do what?" Seto asked.

Kaiba replied, "We'll set up a live interview...an advertisement if you will, for Dance-athon, tomorrow. During that advertisement, make sure to put your brother and sister in it and point them out as such."

"How would that help?" Seto asked.

Kaiba replied, "Simple. It would basically allow everyone to know that they are your family. That way, if Noah brings him back, he can't claim that he belongs there."

Angie giggled at the idea, saying, "I don't know if big brother can handle it, though. Seto tends to freeze up just dueling under pressure or from stress. There's no way he'll get through doing some kind of public thing."

Kaiba snapped, "I don't care if he wets himself in public...this is important."

"Hey! I don't wet myself!" Seto snapped.

Joey chuckled, "That aint what they were saying, man."

"Yes...it is." Kaiba said, but turned away to avoid the glare his mother was giving him.

Tristan then came over and slapped Seto on the shoulder, saying, "Actually, I remember a time back in 5th grade..."

Tea then added, "...and what about that fight with Ushio 6 months ago?"

"Man, Ushio so kicked his ass." Joey laughed.

"Cut it out!!" Seto spat.

Kaiba shook his head. "You really are pathetic." He sighed. "Maybe I can stay an extra day and do it for the incompetent one here."

"I can handle doing some stupid advertisement!" Seto said.

Kaiba ignored him and continued, "And since you obviously can't handle watching either your nor my brother properly, then maybe Angie and mother wouldn't have any trouble watching them both, while I do this."

"I can so handle them!" Seto said.

Kaiba snapped, "I asked you to watch over my brother one time, and you abandoned him at Yugi's!"

"Hey, you're the one that abandoned my brother when he needed someone the most!" Seto stated.

There was suddenly a quiet moaning noise that shut everyone up and made them look up the stairs to see Mokuba rubbing his eyes. "Seto...what's all the yelling about?"

Kaiba stood immediately, and gracefully moved up the stairs to where Mokuba was. He gave him a soft smile, ruffled his hair, and said, "It's nothing...we'll try to keep it down. Why don't you go back to sleep? Maybe you should close the door, as well."

"But, then it's too dark." Mokuba grumbled tiredly.

"Then keep the door a crack open. Go lay down, all right?" Kaiba asked.

"Okay." Mokuba smiled, then hugged him. The mother smiled as she witnessed this, hoping her son would be showing the same caring for Mokuba once Kaiba was gone.

The others still had trouble understanding the weird turn around in Kaiba's mood swings from cold to caring, depending on the person.

Angie smiled as well, hoping the feelings he showed towards Mokuba were also somewhere up there when it came to her.

As soon as Mokuba went back in, Kaiba came back down, saying, "If you end up on the TV looking like a dolt, you'll only create bad press for your company. I'm sure your partner will want to be in the ad, as well. So, not only are you going to need to handle doing this, you're going to need to interact with someone you've never dealt with before. Plus, if they ask any questions on what happened with the duel between Noah and myself, you'll need to have that information. So, this debate is over...I'm doing it."

"Hey, it's my business, now! I wanna do it!" Seto snapped.

"Seto...he's right. I know you want to help, and I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to do more advertisements. But, let him do this first. That way, it'll give you time to learn what to do for the next time." the mother said.

"Mom...you, too? But, I can do this! Don't you have any faith in me??" Seto asked.

"But, Seto...your friends are right. You do freeze up, especially around cameras. You need to learn to get use to them, and that wont happened in one day. You're also very new to this, and have never even seen this business, yet. You need time to adjust." the mother explained.

He looked away, not looking happy. And as he did, he felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see his new brother Mokie there.

Seto smiled and hugged him...but then a thought hit. Seto looked back at Kaiba, saying, "Hey...if you're going to do that ad, how about bringing your brother with you, instead of him? I mean, he'll probably be frightened there. I'm sure your Mokuba is used to the media all the time."

Kaiba glared at him, "That may be true, but thanks to you he's in no condition to do that. If you took care of him back in my world like you were supposed to...he would have been fine. But, because you didn't listen, his fever has been high again."

"I can't believe you're still blaming me for that!" Seto said. "Well, we're doing this tomorrow, right? So, maybe he'll be okay by then."

"Seto." Mokie said. "It's okay...I can do it. Let's let Mokuba rest."

The mother then reached out and stroked Mokie's hair. "You've gotten very brave in the short time you've been here. Thank you...I'm proud of you."

At that, Mokie smiled and nodded.

Seto still didn't like it but it was becoming apparent he wasn't being given a choice in the matter, so he just sulked again.

Kaiba then stood saying, "Maybe we should head back, then."

Seto got up immediately upon Kaiba saying that, saying, "Good idea. Oh, yeah...Mokuba's asleep here, so I guess you're staying with him. Well, seeya...wouldn't wanna be ya!"

"I'm sure Mokuba could be moved back home. I have my car here, and we should all fit." the Mom said.

"What? No way! He is not staying there! I'm going to sleep in my own bed tonight!" Seto spat.

The Mom said, "That's okay...we have the guest room."

"I'll go get him." Kaiba said, heading upstairs to get Mokuba.

"But...Mooom!!" Seto whined.

"They're our family too, Seto." she said.

"No, he's not! He's a Kaiba!" Seto argued.

Ignoring him, she turned to Yugi, saying, "Once they figure out when the time will be, I'll have the other Seto call and let you know."

"Okay." Yugi smiled.

"Oh, boy...another sleep over!" Angie said.

"But, what about Dad!" Seto said. "Then you're going to have to explain it to him, too!"

"Then that's what I'll do." the Mom said.

"But but but..."

Kaiba came back down with Mokuba in his arms.

Soon they were all out the door...Tristan, Joey, and Tea waving good-bye as they headed home, and Kaiba, Mokuba, Mokie, Seto, and Angie piling into their Mom's car and going back to their house.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Don't worry, Seto." the Mom said to Kaiba back at their house. "Your Dad wont be home until it's really late. I'll tell him when he gets home."

"He's not his Dad!!" Seto yelled from the other room, while eavesdropping on them.

"I know." Kaiba answered her, looking serious. "I remember...he always worked late."

Mokuba was awake and looked up at Kaiba as he said that, catching the pattern for the first time ever. He also noticed the 'oh-so' familiar look in Kaiba's eyes as he said that. It was the same thing Mokuba felt when his brother came home late all the time. Kaiba had felt the same pain of hurt from his Dad being late home, as Mokuba had perhaps felt towards him. Did Kaiba even realize it? Mokuba wasn't sure. But, for the first time, he didn't feel like the only person going through this.

"Good night, big brother!" Angie chimed at Kaiba, as he blankly waved back before entering the guest room. Kaiba also overheard the grumbling from Seto all the way into his room, before Kaiba closed the door.

He gently placed Mokuba down on the bed, whispering, "It's pretty late."

There was then a slight wrapping on the door. He opened it to see his mother there, handing him some pajamas. "This is one of Mokie's new pajamas I got for him earlier today...it should fit. And this is one of Seto's, which I'm sure also fit you. I snuck them out of the laundry, so he wouldn't fight about it."

"Good...I'm sick of hearing him whine." Kaiba answered. He then said, "Thanks."

"Seto...I'm sorry for what you and your brother have gone through." she said. As soon as she said that, she noticed him tense up once again. But, with a smile, she brought her hand up to his face, adding, "It's not pity. The reason I say this is because I feel I have somehow failed you two over there."

Kaiba then smiled and brought his hand up to touch hers. "Not at all. You sacrificed your life in order to give me my little brother. That was the greatest gift I have ever gotten. I don't regret it at all."

As Kaiba said that, he didn't notice the smile form on Mokuba's face.

"I'm glad." she said. "I know you worry about your other self. But, give him time...I'm sure he'll shape up."

"I hope so...for Mokuba's sake." Kaiba said.

The mother then gave him a kiss on the cheek, and whispered. "And don't forget...Mokuba will have Angie, me, and your father, as well."

"Good." he said. That was the part he had to be reminded of the most, being so used to having to do everything himself, all the time.

"Oh, here." she said, handing him something. "This is my cell phone. You can call who you need with it."

"All right." he said, taking the phone. As she left, he muttered, "Good night." and watched her walk away.

Slowly, he closed the door and turned to see his brother quickly shove his head back down, pretending to be asleep. "That's not going to work." Kaiba muttered, as he approached.

"So, where are you staying, Seto?" Mokuba asked, as his brother gave him his pajamas.

"It looks like here." Kaiba said. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all!" Mokuba beamed.

Kaiba made the necessary calls, as Mokuba got dressed and got comfortable in bed. After Kaiba was done, he pulled his shirt off, then pants, putting on his pajama bottoms, and tossing the top aside near his other clothes, since he didn't normally use it.

Then after carefully slipping into bed, he protectively moved his arm around his brother and managed to go to sleep, himself...his little brother smiling contently that his brother was near.


	61. C61 Breakfast and Shopping

**C61 Breakfast and Shopping**

Kaiba did not open his eyes but was instantly awake as he heard the door to his room open and whispers from the doorway. He realized that father was finally home, and mother decided to show him that there was indeed two Seto's and Mokuba's.

"I can't believe it." his father's voice whispered.

"Come on." she whispered back. "We don't want to wake them."

As the door opened, his eyes opened...neither obviously realized exactly what a light sleeper he was. He then looked down at Mokuba, who he was protectively wrapped around. This entire situation seemed to so strange to him. In this place he felt safe, and feeling safe was not something he was accustomed to. It make him hunger for something he knew he couldn't have...made him unrealistically wonder what it would be like if they stayed here and lived with their duplicates.

But, such an idea could never come to be...and he knew it. Seto was jealous enough with him as it was, and they could never work together. Trying to explain to authorities why there were two of them would also be near impossible. And the strongest point of all of them is that he feared how Mokuba would react if he made such a decision. He feared Mokuba might think he was favoring them over him, which wasn't true. But, it was true that such an idea was his own selfishness. This fantasy wasn't for Mokuba's sake at all...but his own. After being here, he knew he was going to miss his parents and this adopted sister that barely acknowledge him in his world.

...and the last time he dreamed of a world with his parents was when this whole mess started. And he wasn't going to repeat his mistakes.

So, he buried his dreams, as he always did, and forced himself back to sleep. He had to settle for cherishing the moments he had now before going back, and accept it.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba woke up again early in the morning...around 6 am. He knew he was probably the first one up as well, since he had the habit of getting up this early for work at Kaiba Corp.

Knowing he wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep, he gently pulled himself from bed, keeping himself from waking Mokuba. He then covered him back over, took his clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

Once Kaiba was showered and ready for the day, he went down to the kitchen, starting up a pot of coffee.

By the time the next person was up, Kaiba was found sitting at the table fully dressed and casually reading the paper with some toast and his second cup of black coffee.

"Well, good morning." the father said sleepily, as he moved into the kitchen. "I didn't expect you to be up and around so soon. Since when do you drink coffee?"

As Kaiba turned to face the father, he could see the look in his eyes change, realizing. "Oh...so, you must be that other one."

The Dad nervously laughed, saying, "I have to admit, this is kinda strange after going from having 2 kids to 5. Not to say that's a problem or anything, it's just..."

"We're not staying." Kaiba replied.

The father hesitated. "Right...because you don't belong here. I heard about that, too." Changing the uncomfortable subject, the father approached the pot, saying, "So...do you have any left for me?"

Kaiba shrugged, saying, "Help yourself."

As the Dad went over to pour himself some coffee, Kaiba studied him. Even as a child, he had trouble remembering him fully and took this opportunity to absorb every detail. Like now, his father worked all the time, and because of which he rarely saw him. But, he didn't blame his father for it...he understood more than anyone. Sometimes things like that couldn't be helped. It was the responsibility of the man to provide money for the family to survive off of. He could only imagine his father's added worries if he could afford the additions to his household.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Kaiba said to him, "Has mother told you that Seto is now in a partnership with a business of his own?"

"Yes...she said something about that." he answered, putting toast into the toaster.

"With that job, Seto should be able to help with the money for this household. He's the oldest and has promised to help with the responsibility to make sure Mokuba is provided for." Kaiba explained.

The father turned towards him, not expecting him to sound so serious.

Kaiba looked right into his eyes, adding with a sternness in his voice. "He's not a child anymore...he's an adult. Don't let him get away with anything. It's about time that he grows up."

The father gave a weak chuckle, saying, "I'm afraid you're talking to the wrong parent, son. I'm afraid I'm not around enough to be the one to keep on top of him."

"You don't need to be on top of him." Kaiba explained. "Just talk to him, and let him understand the rules...make sure mother agrees." Kaiba had a feeling this might have been part of the reason Seto had turned into the way he did. Without a father figure around, he grew up probably being coddled by his mother all the time. And he had a feeling if he said this to his mother, she would disagree since he was probably still her 'baby' in her eyes...women.

The father sat down, with his toast and coffee, taking a section from the newspaper. "So...I hear you run some big business in your world. I also hear that the reason Seto has this business is because you set it up. Are you sure Seto can handle it?"

"I did the hard part of setting his business up. All he has to do is be there and help run it. He has a partner as well...he's not in it alone. Even he should be able to do that much." Kaiba replied.

After a long moment of silence, the Dad then added. "You two are supposed to be the same, basically...right? Do you think Seto will ever end up like you?"

'I hope not.' Kaiba thought. "I'm sure there will be differences, since we didn't grow up the same way."

"Right." the Dad answered. "But, I mean...well, never mind."

"I think he'll learn responsibility and what it's like to be man soon enough." Kaiba said, guessing what the father was trying to say. "We all do, eventually...some just learn earlier than others."

The father continued to avoid looking at him, as he took another sip. "Um...your Mom told me about what happened in your world. I guess you lost us pretty young."

Kaiba was trying to not to flinch, desperately hoping this wasn't going to be another 'I'm sorry' speech. He didn't know if he could take another one...especially not from his father.

"So...I don't know if I ever told you this in your world, or if you'd remember being as young as you were. But, I just want you to know that...I'm proud of you. You did what you had to do, and took care of what's important. Despite what you went through, it looks like you two made it through okay." he said.

Kaiba paused then looked over at him in surprise. After a moment, the father finally turned his way, offering a slight smile. "So...is there anything you needed to ask or say to me, that maybe you didn't have a chance to?"

Kaiba blinked, absorbing the question as he wondered that himself now that the offer was so generously placed on the table. After a moment, he finally shook his head. "No...none that I can think of."

"Well, good." he said, and turned back to his paper.

After that, the two ate breakfast in silence. Kaiba had to admit, it seemed a lot of his habits came from the father, even the small fact that they both seemed to comfortably enjoy silence over senseless chatter. There was nothing awkward about them not talking to each other as they ate...just having each other's presence here was good enough for them both.

After a moment, the father looked over and smiled towards the doorway, saying, "Well, hello there."

Kaiba turned to see one of the Mokuba's shyly peeking into the doorway. Once he was addressed, he quietly moved into the kitchen and clung to Kaiba.

"Is he yours?" the father asked.

Kaiba shook his head. "No...this one's your official new son." he answered.

"He's awfully shy." the Dad said.

Kaiba nodded, "He's going to be for a while. He'll come around." Kaiba then got up and immediately began to get some cereal out. He placed the bowl in front of Mokie, pouring the cereal, then the milk and finally putting a spoon down. Mokie watched in fascination as Kaiba did this.

He then finally picked Mokie up, plopping him in the chair that Kaiba originally sat in. "Eat up." he ordered and walked to get yet a third cup a coffee.

Mokie gave him a smile then began to eat.

"You seem to know what he likes." the father stated.

Kaiba answered, "He's not mine, but I guessed they'd have the same interests."

"You shouldn't assume. After all, I know my Seto doesn't like coffee." the Dad said.

Kaiba smirked. "Once he starts working at his own business for awhile, I guarantee he will."

After that, it wasn't long before the rest of the family started to come down. The mother offered a chipper good morning, while Seto came in spouting about Kaiba trying to take his brother away because they were in the kitchen together.

Thankful that he could avoid this mess, the father got up, saying, "Well, I have to go to work, now. I'll be seeing you guys later...you listen to your mother, now."

"Yes, Dad..." Seto muttered, as the Dad witnessed the mother getting his breakfast for him, and Kaiba glaring at him in disgust for sitting on his fool ass, instead of getting it for himself.

'He's right.' the father said, after Kaiba helped open his eyes for him. 'It's time he started to do his part. I'll talk to him this weekend when I'm off.' The Dad then put on his coat and was out the door.

"Good morning!" Angie chimed waltzing into the room. "I'm up now, so everyone can start with their lives."

Seto groaned and rolled his eyes and Mokie gave a chuckle.

"Hey!" Angie suddenly spat. "You took my bowl! You know you're not supposed to take that, that's my bowl!"

"Hey, I didn't get it...Mom got it for me." Seto said, offering a childish smirk.

"Mom!!" she whined.

"Honey, a bowl is a bowl. Do you want some cereal?" she asked, getting up to take care of her, next.

"No, I can actually get my own, unlike some people!" Angie said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Seto leaned back, stretching and said, "Hey, it's the woman's job to take care of things." getting a glare from the mother saying that, as well as from Kaiba...but didn't seem to notice, or tried to ignore it.

"It is not! You are such a jerk, you know that?" she spat.

"Everyone has to do their part in a family." Kaiba said. "If you're old enough to be a partner in a job, you're old enough to pay rent here, as well."

Everyone turned and looked at Kaiba from the comment. Seto asked, "What??"

"You heard me. You now have a job, and it should be a good-paying one since you're a partial owner. And until you're out of the house with a family of you own, then this is your family and you have to help provide for them." Kaiba told him.

"What are you, my Dad? Screw off...I don't listen to you!" Seto spat.

Kaiba asked, "Do you have so little respect for your parents that you would not be willing to offer and help them? Your Dad works hard to pay for this household, and it's going to get more expensive with another mouth to feed. Would you not offer to help them, or your new brother?"

Seto stayed silent to that one, glancing at the Mom for a moment with a slight feeling of guilt.

The mother smiled, saying, "We can discuss this at a later time, maybe after the other two eventually go."

"...can't wait for that." Seto muttered, looking back down at his food.

The Mom then smiled at Kaiba, as he silently nodded to her and went back to his coffee.

Angie just laughed. "It's about time someone put you in your place."

"Shut up." Seto grumbled.

Another noise caused the others to look over at Mokuba in the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "Boy, you guys sure are loud in the morning."

"I am not!!" Angie loudly yelled.

"Yeah, you are...you could probably wake the neighbors with that mouth." Seto joked.

"Mom!!!" Angie spat.

"Seto...don't pick on your sister." the mother said.

Seto retorted, "It's not my fault...she started it!"

Kaiba smiled at his brother, muttering, "Sorry...did you get enough sleep?"

"Yeah." he said, scratching his messy hair, as he strolled into the room, muttering, "It's definitely not like our house..."

Kaiba got up and stopped him, checking his head. "You're doing better this morning, but should still take your medicine."

Mokuba groaned. "But I hate the taste of that nasty stuff, I'm at least having breakfast first."

The mother sprung up, ready to get breakfast for him, but Kaiba help out his hand, saying, "It's okay...I got it."

"Suck up." Seto mumbled. "Ow!" he then suddenly spat, looking over at Mokuba in surprise. "You kicked me, again!"

"Don't call my brother a suck-up! He always does this at home!" Mokuba retorted angrily for him daring to try and insult his brother.

Angie giggled and stuck out her tongue. "Yeah!"

"You shut up, you're not even involved!" Seto snapped.

"Seto...that's enough." the mother said, sitting back down as Kaiba had gotten up, prepping Mokuba's breakfast, now.

"What about her? She started it!" Seto said.

Kaiba fought the urge to roll his eyes, trying to ignore the chaos as Mokie giggled over the whole scene before him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Breakfast was finally over, and they ended up moving into the living room for the time being. Seto was talking to Mokie about their family and the household to get him more acquainted, and Angie was fighting with Mokuba to take his medicine, who was still fighting against it. Kaiba had considered ordering Mokuba to do so, since Mokuba would know not to fight with him, but he decided to let it slide for the moment and let Mokuba have his fun for the moment.

As this was happening, the mother turned to Kaiba, asking, "Seto...did you find out when this interview ad takes place?"

"Yes." Kaiba answered. "The reporters will be over at the Dance-athon at one o'clock."

"One o'clock?" the mother asked back in delight. "Well, that's good. It's so early right now, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and Angie to get some more clothes for Mokuba."

Seto quieted and turned her way, hearing that. Angie also turned, looking excited as she asked, "Shopping? Can I get something, too? There's a shirt I really gotta get!"

"Of course you can." the mother said. "I wanted to get more for Mokuba the other day, but I wasn't certain on his size since he wasn't with me. That's why I wanted to go back out today. So...will you be coming?"

Kaiba shrugged, "I suppose...as long as we're back by twelve thirty."

"But, why are you asking Kaiba to come with you?" Seto asked, jealous.

The mother replied, "Because he seems to have more of an interest in clothes."

Kaiba smirked at the response.

Seto pouted, "How come you didn't ask me?" making his sister snicker.

The mother rolled her eyes. "Seto, I have asked you dozens of times to come shopping with me, and you've always told me you hated it. Why should I ask you now? Besides, I'm not buying anymore of your ripped up shirts. If you have a business to run, you have to think about dressing a little better."

"But, it's a Dance-athon!!" Seto spat. "You're supposed to look hip!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaiba asked. "You look like a bum off the streets."

"I do not! That's the look!" Seto protested.

Angie replied, "That's a look, all right...a crappy look. Mom's right...you're going to need new clothes."

"Maybe he should go with you." Kaiba said.

"No way! I don't want any clothes...I like what I got!" Seto spat.

"See?" the mother said, knowing he didn't really want to shop for clothes. "Now, stay home and take care of Mokuba. You're father picked up some more Tylenol last night for him, so after he takes his medicine just follow the directions on the back stating when to give it to him next."

"But, I don't want to sit home doing nothing all day! That's boring!!" Seto pouted some more.

Kaiba glared at him and snapped, "Instead of sitting on your ass, you should tear apart one of the duel disk and see if you have enough brain capacity to put it back together and get it working."

"Language, Seto." the mother reminded him.

"But, how can I do that and watch Mokuba?" Seto asked.

"Mokuba will be _sleeping_." Kaiba emphasized to his little brother, who grinned perhaps too innocently in response to it. "So as long as you remember his medicine and stay out of sight, there shouldn't be anymore problems."

Seto grumbled, but didn't say anything else. The only thing he didn't like was Kaiba spending time with his mother, out of jealousy. But, in all honestly, he didn't want to go...hating the idea of clothes shopping. Plus, the suggestion Kaiba had he actually liked. He was interested in trying to take it apart and see what made it work so incredibly. Of course, he'd never tell Kaiba that he was in agreement of his idea. So, all he could do left is grumble to himself.

"Good. Then, it's settled. Let's get going." she said, wanting to leave early enough so there would be no problem getting back in time.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The mother pulled out a shirt, showing it to Kaiba. "What about this shirt, Seto? Doesn't it look nice?"

Kaiba gave a slight smile, saying, "I don't think I'm going to find my taste in clothes, here. I'm rather particular in what I get myself."

"Oh." she said. "Those are some nice clothes...where did you get them?"

"All different places." Kaiba replied.

"Well, tell me." she said in interest, causing the sister to glance from her own browsing to listen.

Kaiba gave a sigh, answering, "The coat is specially made by Versace, the pants are Seraphin, the shirt's made by Armani, and the boots are Gucci."

"Gucci??" the Mother asked, knowing that name, and just how expensive that brand was. "Wow...and that shirt's from Armani? I don't think I even know those other brands."

"Trust me...they're expensive brands." Kaiba replied.

"Right." she said. "You did say you run quite a wealthy business. I guess you can afford rich clothes."

"I'm in the public eye a lot in my world." Kaiba said. "It's important when you're in my field that your image is perfect...it means a lot."

"So, you wear what you have on because you like them or because you have to?" she asked.

"I have clothes that I wear out of necessity, and other out of preference. The ones I'm wearing now are what I prefer to wear. The business suits I have are necessity." Kaiba explained.

"I see." the mother said with a smile, but Kaiba had a feeling that the smile was a fake one. He felt bad deflating her hopes.

So, he added, "That doesn't mean I can't help you find something for that bum you call a son, or help you with Mokuba."

"He's not a bum." the mother chided.

"Yes he is...you spoil him too much." Kaiba said to her. "He's eighteen, now...he needs to grow up."

"Seto." the mother said, touching his arm. "You have been Mokuba's mother and father, and I feel you have done a wonderful job with him. But, don't me how to raise my kids."

Kaiba gave a smirk, stating, "And you say I get my stubbornness from the father..."

She smirked back for a moment mirroring Kaiba's own smirk, before turning away and looking over clothes. "Well, do you think this shirt would look good on Seto, then?"

"Anything's an improvement." Kaiba muttered. But, he then glanced over the clothes, and went to a different shirt rack, pulling out another shirt. "Actually, I think this would better suit him. He had a point, after all. This place he is running brings in a lot of the teenage crowd in and doesn't want to look 'too business-like'."

"Oooh, that's sharp!" Angie said, looking at the shirt Kaiba picked. "Yeah, I like that."

"Well, let's pick some more clothes." the other said.

After a while, they were finally heading home.


	62. C62 Meeting Pegasus & Mokie duels?

C62 Meeting Pegasus & Mokie duels? 

It had been awhile since they were gone. Seto had already given Mokuba his medicine, and finally put him to sleep (or so he hoped). He had also torn apart the duel disk that was presently scattered all over the kitchen table.

For a while, Mokuba had been a handful and didn't want to go to bed, at all. But, after threatening to tell his brother about his trouble when he got home, he grudgingly inclined to listen and went to bed, falling asleep quickly, afterwards.

Seto looked at the clock, and noticed it was now 20 minutes to 1, as he thought, 'Aren't they late?' He knew how his mother was when it came to shopping, but hoped it wouldn't cause Kaiba to miss out on his own interview. 'Maybe I should go if it gets too late.' he began to wonder as an after-thought. Yet, the idea of jumping in front of a camera and attempting to talk about a business he knew nothing about made his nerves tense and his stomach turn.

He sighed, lowering his head. They were right...he was really going to have to get over this phobia of his.

A moment later, Seto heard the door open and the others finally came home. Kaiba had most of the groceries in one hand, and a cell phone in the other, talking on the phone.

Angie came practically bouncing in, talking to Mokie about her new clothes, as the mother closed the door, also each holding a light bag.

"It's about time." Seto said to them, then added. "Who's he on the phone with?"

"Sorry...Mom just went a little crazy with the shopping." she said, rolling her eyes.

The mother turned, saying, "Well, Mokuba didn't have very many clothes. Besides, he needed some things to help decorate his bedroom, too."

She sighed, saying, "See?"

"Who's he on the phone with?" Seto asked again.

"Yugi and everyone, of course!" she replied. "He's just letting them know we'll meet them there instead of trying to get them first. That'll save some time."

"Oh, yeah...that sounds good." Seto said, as he began to get up. "I should probably get ready then, huh?"

Kaiba got off the phone, asking, "Get ready for what?"

"You know...the interview?" Seto asked.

Kaiba began to dial another number, stating, "You already know you're not doing the interview, so why are you even saying that."

"So? I'm still going to see it, aren't I? I mean...there's no way I'm staying home for that." Seto said, starting to feel upset again.

"There's no way that Mokuba is leaving while he's sick, so you're staying here to watch." Kaiba replied to Seto, then began to talk on the phone again. "Hello? Yes, I'd like to make an appointment with your office..."

Seto looked livid, and turned to his Mom. "Mom, that's not fair! It's supposed to be my business, and I can't even go to watch the interview??"

"I'm sorry, honey...but Mokuba's health is the most important. Once Kaiba's gone, the business is all yours. Besides, after the mess you made on my table, you wouldn't be going anywhere until you clean that up." the mother said.

"So, who the hell is he talking to, now?" Seto asked.

"Language." the mother said, looking down at the pile of bags that mostly Kaiba had put down. "Why don't you take those bags up to my room, before you start on cleaning that table?"

Angie was the one to reply to him, "We didn't get a chance to go over for the DNA test yet, so Seto's making an appointment for after the interview."

Mokie rubbed his eyes tiredly, and the mother squatted down, asking, "Are you going to be awake enough to do this, honey?"

He smiled up at her and nodded, still being rather quiet.

"Well, bro...we're going to be going. We just stopped in to let you know we're back and drop this stuff off. We'll be back later!"

Kaiba flipped the phone shut, and turned to the mother saying, "Go ahead and start the car back up. I'm just going to check on Mokuba."

Seto brought his finger up, looking like he was about to try and talk to Kaiba again, when he went up the stairs still ignoring him. He dropped his finger looking even more pissed, feeling like he was more like the maid of the household than an actual member.

"Seeya, Seto." the mother waved, and headed out the door with Mokie...Angie following behind.

Once again, Seto was alone. He couldn't even call his friends over since they were all going to be at the dance place. Everyone was...everyone but him.

Kaiba headed downstairs, and headed towards the door, as Seto said, "Wait! What if me and Mokuba put a disguise on, and just watched from a distance?"

"What did you not understand about you and Mokuba cannot leave, since he's sick?" Kaiba snapped coldly. He then added with almost venom in his voice, "And if you don't listen and drag him out against my wishes and do something stupid, I will make you pay for it!"

Then without another word, Kaiba left the house.

Seto slumped down, feeling even more depressed. "It's not fair." he pouted. "They like him better than me..."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In no time, they made it to the Dance-athon, and Kaiba was pleased to find the place overflowing with people. There were lines of people just waiting to get inside.

Kaiba walked up like he owned the place, which he still did at the time, and the bouncer nodded seeing it was him. He led the family in, then went inside. Kaiba then looked around for the reporters, finding only one crew here when he had hoped there to be more. But then again, this was still just a dance place with an arcade and duel monsters. He didn't have the media mongers like he had in his world...so it was to be expected.

The reporter was familiar to him, as well...Catherine Halter of XNC news. He had dealt with her in his world, and didn't find it a problem to know what to say to her here. At the moment, his partner John Foley was with her and talking about the place, already.

Kaiba then looked around to see the rest of the group off to the side. They waved the moment they saw him. Kaiba looked down at Mokie, saying, "Stay close to Angie and your mother. You can get lost easily in this place."

Mokie nodded, moving closer to the other two, who were looking over the place in amazement over what Kaiba's work had done to pick this place up so much.

As he approached, John Foley turned, saying, "Ahh...here's the man of the hour. This is who I have been talking about."

Catherine also turned at his approach, and said, "So, you must be Seto Yagakamiya. Your partner's been saying so much about you."

"I hope it's something good." he smirked, as he gave a respectful nod in her direction.

The old man gave a laugh, patting Kaiba on the shoulder. He then whispered, "I'll leave the rest of this up to you." and went away to keep watch over the business.

Kaiba nodded to him, then moved his hand in the direction of his family and waved for them to come. "This is my brother, Mokuba Yagakamiya...and my mother and sister Angie."

"Hi." Angie nervously said, as Mokie simply smiled in fascination. The mother placed a hand on Angie's shoulder for support. It looked like Seto wasn't the only one camera shy, but at least she wasn't going into sweats and threatening to pass out.

The cameraman got all their pictures, as Catherine added, "So, I've heard that you were the one responsible for single handedly turning this business around. What was once a place that was ready to permanently close to a booming dance business that was hotter than ever."

"There were some key issues to the originally run place that needed to be address. And with the competition of new businesses, if it didn't keep up with the times, there was no way to stay open." Kaiba explained.

Catherine smiled, "So...it was a good move to have a more younger and fresher perspective into the business. And I suppose being the first to single-handedly defeat the world's Duel Monster's Champion right here in the Dance-athon I'm certain must have helped, as well. So, does that now make you the new Duel Monster's champion?"

"Someone who doesn't put his all into the game doesn't deserve to be the champion in the first place." Kaiba stated. "But, no...it doesn't. Winning one duel is not the same as winning a tournament, something I've never gotten involved in. And with a business to run, it's something I may never do. The championship is out there for anyone with the will enough to take it. All they have to do is have enough determination."

Mokie looked up in surprise that Kaiba didn't claim to be an official champion after winning to Noah.

The reporter then said to him, "So, tell me about these amazing duel disks that have everyone in a frenzy. This technology that you created and patented is said to have even made Pegasus Land look second rate. Where did you manage to come up with such an amazing idea as holographic projections?"

Kaiba gave the hint of a modest smile, as he stated, "I can't really offer the secrets behind it, but I can tell you this. The game of duel monsters really needed this to show it's true potential. Playing cards on a tabletop you can do with just about any game. But, with the holographic technology, the monsters can literally come to life and fight for you."

"I see." she said. "So, does that mean you intend to accept Pegasus's offer?"

Kaiba looked at her blankly. "Offer?"

"Why, yes." she said, glancing over at one of the tables, indicating to Kaiba that Maximillion Pegasus was right here in Dance-athon, seeming to be patiently waiting for the interview to be over, to see him, as well.

Kaiba looked stunned that he was here. 'Why?' he thought. It didn't make sense to him. Pegasus couldn't possibly see this small business as a threat to his massive amusement park. It wasn't even in the same league with each other.

"Though Pegasus did not give specifics, he had mentioned an interest to see you, regarding Dance-athon. Could there be yet another merging in the future?"

Kaiba crossed his arms, and tried not to look agitated, as he answered, "No comment."

She then turned and crossed her next for her guy to stop filming. She then turned, saying, "Off the record, Seto. Is this a possible merging with Pegasus Land?"

"Off the record?" Kaiba asked. "I'll let you be the first to know, when I find out for myself. But, don't report this with Pegasus until I know...deal?"

Catherine nodded, "Okay." then signaled for her guy to start the camera rolling again. "This is Catherine Halter with XNC news."

After the cameraman put the camera down, she added, "Good, we're done." She then turned to Kaiba, saying, "Remember, Seto...you agreed to let me be the first to know. Don't disappoint me." She then winked and walked away.

"That was great, honey!" the mother said. "And you did so good, Mokuba."

Mokie looked down and smiled.

"How about me??" Angie asked. "Did I do good?"

"You seemed a little nervous, but you did good." the mother said.

"I was not nervous!!" Angie spat.

Kaiba stated, "Why don't you three go say your 'hello's' to Yugi and the others. I have one other person to talk with."

They turned, noticing his attention was on Pegasus, then nodded and drifted away.

Kaiba approached and took a seat at the table.

"So..." Pegasus smiled. "You must be Seto Yagakamiya. What a talented young boy you are."

Pegasus' introduction reminded him of when he first met Pegasus in his own world, and was fooled into believing he was someone he could somewhat trust. Now all he could see was a man who once kidnapped and threatened his own brother...who had somehow sucked them both into cards.

But Kaiba got his emotions in check, though secretly wondered if Pegasus could read his mind and tell that he had nothing but hate a loathing of the guy. If he did...he didn't show it.

So, instead...Kaiba looked around the area blandly, as he answered, "I never expected the creator of Duel Monsters and owner of Pegasus Land to show up here. I can't imagine you would actually be interested in this place."

"You honestly think I'm here to steal your business? I'm hurt!" Pegasus said, in mock pain. "No no no, my boy. I simply came here to offer you a deal. The type that makes you filthy rich, of course." Pegasus smiled.

"But, you just said you weren't interested in this business." Kaiba stated. "I'm sure it can't be for nothing."

Kaiba knew that Pegasus couldn't be worried about Dance-athon taking away too many customers. Even if they lost a little bit of people at Pegasus Land, it shouldn't matter to Pegasus. The amusement park was merely a self-promotion to his main business of Duel Monsters. So, whether the people crowded to Pegasus Land or Dance-athon, the place would still be promoting the card game.

"That's true." Pegasus answered. "But, it's not some run-down building I'm interested in. What caught my attention Seto-boy was your mind."

'My mind?' he thought, at first once again wondering if Pegasus had read his mind.

He then smiled at Seto, saying, "I've never seen such an amazing invention before as your Duel Disks. Holographic projections from a mere hand held...incredible! Catherine was right, you know...our technician of the table top is nothing compared to what you came up with."

"I see." Kaiba said. He should have seen this coming. He waited to hear the offer on the table.

"So...how would you like a partnership? Not in the Dance-athon, but the business of gaming technology? If your mind is smart enough to make something like this, I can only imagine what else you could come up with." Pegasus stated.

It was a very tempting offer. He could make tons of money doing this, even if he didn't trust the guy as far as he could throw him. But, there was a problem to this agreement. Kaiba wasn't going to be here, and Seto probably didn't have enough knowledge to even fix a bicycle, nonetheless a duel disk...or anything else for that matter. He couldn't possibly agree to such a deal, when Seto was so lacking in anything. Besides...this was going to be Seto's business. Which meant, he had to make the deal.

Kaiba nodded, and replied, "I'll need time to think about this. Give me a number that I can contact you with, and I'll let you know my answer as soon as I can."

"I see." Pegasus answered, sounding disappointed that it wasn't immediate. He then pulled out some papers from a briefcase and gave them to Kaiba. "Here are my offers. Feel free to look them over. My numbers on the sheets. Don't take too long, Seto-boy...my offer wont stand forever."

Pegasus then got up, and headed away from the table.

Kaiba watched him go. He knew that was true. Whoever was creating the tabletops for Pegasus wouldn't take long to figure out how it was done for very long and then he wouldn't need Seto.

As Kaiba looked through the paperwork, he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see Mokie. "Hey." Kaiba said. "What are you doing away from the others?"

"They're right over there." he said, showing them at a table not too far off, talking with Yugi's group. Mokie then turned back and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking over these papers." he answered.

Satisfied with that, Mokie sat down in a chair next to Kaiba.

Kaiba glanced back down at him, and added, "I don't want to bore you. Maybe you should go back to their table until I'm done."

"I want to stay with you." Mokie insisted.

Kaiba sighed, realizing the boy wasn't going to do anything while he was still sitting there. He then kept the papers with him and stood, saying, "Well, come on. Maybe we can try the video games this place has."

As he got up, he suddenly noticed Pegasus again. He was near the exit and directing a lovely blond-haired woman and a white-haired kid towards it. Kaiba recognized the woman...she was the one that was in that portrait of the main hall in Pegasus' castle. Yet, he had heard rumors that she was dead...at least in his world.

The woman glanced his way and offered a slight smile. Pegasus seemed to notice and turned to see Kaiba. He gave a nod of respect, then turned back to the exit as they headed out. But for the moment he turned to see Kaiba, Kaiba had noticed one other crucial thing...Pegasus had both of his eyes, and neither wielding the Millennium Eye.

'So...in this world, he never obtained the Eye.' Kaiba thought. Kaiba was pleased to see it. If Pegasus did not have that item, then at least he didn't have to worry of Pegasus being a possible threat against Seto if he decided against the man's deal. After all, in his world...Pegasus' way of getting what he wanted was kidnapping people and shoving them in cards.

"Seto...??"

Kaiba looked back down at Mokie looking at him questioningly when he had frozen. He offered this other Mokuba a smile, and said, "Let's go."

Kaiba stayed with Mokie and let him play several video games. As he did, his attention drifted over to the dueling arenas. He knew that his Mokuba was never really interested in Duel Monsters...then again, he was never really good at it. The only aspect he ever gotten into was Capsule Monsters, which he had completely given up after Death T. To this day, Kaiba wasn't sure if that was also his fault for crushing an interest his brother once had in something.

He then turned back to Mokie who was still on the video game and wondered if he was any good at Duel Monsters. "Hey, kiddo...would you want to actually play the game?"

Mokie turned to see what game he was referring to, and saw him pointing at the arena. To Kaiba's surprise, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly, "Could I, really??"

Mokie's head then began to droop, saying, "But...I don't have a deck."

Kaiba then pulled his own deck out and handed it to him. "I'll let you use mine."

Mokie looked nervously at it, as he added, "It's okay. It's just to try it out. I trust you with it. And if you like it enough, we can go buy you some cards. Maybe we can go to Yugi's game shop on the way home."

The kid looked like he was going to cry, as he hugged Kaiba. He had to admit, he didn't expect Mokie to really be interested in playing that much, but was happy to lend him the deck.

Mokie's turn came to get up on the field, and the other duelists made fun of such a small kid coming up to play. But, Kaiba encouraged him to try his best. He had asked him before he got in if he needed to know the rules, but to Kaiba's surprise, Mokie said he already knew them.

It was even more surprising how quickly Mokie picked up how to use his deck as well. Though Mokie lacked the amazing ability that Kaiba had to pull the right card when it was needed, and found it impossible to call a Blue Eyes to him, he still did a pretty good job overall. He had actually defeated the kid he was fighting.

Now, given...the kid he fought was an amateur, but the deck wasn't Mokuba's and still he had won. Overall, Kaiba was proud.

And Mokie was so excited that he had actually won. But, he didn't stick around as he got off and quickly gave Kaiba back his deck. "Thank you, Nii-sama...that was very fun!" he said.

"Where did you learn how to play?" Kaiba asked, putting the deck away.

Mokie looked down. "I kinda learned myself, with some help from Noah, and Seto. Seto kept losing to Noah, and I felt bad. I felt it was my fault and was afraid that he would get hurt and captured by Noah, sometime. I wanted to help him, too if that happened. So, I started to watch more how to play, and Seto taught me some things, too. So, I knew the rules, but...I just never played before, or had a deck."

"Well...we're going to let you pick out some cards to make a deck today. All right?" Kaiba asked.

Mokie smiled, and nodded. "Okay!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Finally, he got together with the group and they eventually left Dance-athon. The first stop was a medical clinic where both Mokie and the Mom had to give samples for the DNA test. Then from there, the Mom dropped both Kaiba and Mokie off at Yugi's, and kept going.

"Wow, Mokie...so you're going to try and duel, too?" Yugi asked.

Mokie smiled and nodded, as he gratefully took the cards that Kaiba had bought for him at the game shop.

Joey then approached and asked, "So, what kinda deck are you looking to make? You got a theme or just doing what fits yer fancy?"

"I like regular monsters." Mokie said, looking through the cards. "I'm thinking of making an earth deck."

"An earth deck. Well, that sounds pretty cool. Mine's kind of an earth deck." Joey said.

"No it's not." Kaiba smirked. "It's a lame deck."

"Shut up! It is not lame! My deck's a warrior deck, splashed with a little bit of lady luck. My deck is awesome!" Joey spat.

"When Mokuba's done with his deck, I guarantee he'll be able to wipe the floor with you." Kaiba bragged.

"No way!" Joey snarled.

Yugi ignored the two, saying to Mokie, "You know, I watched you battling against that kid in the duel arena. You did pretty good, especially being that it wasn't even your deck. But, the next time you fight...you'll be battling with cards of your own. I guarantee they will work better for you, then with Kaiba's cards."

"You think so?" Mokie asked, still thrilled over the cards he was holding.

Kaiba gave up his argument to look over at Mokie. It was still so strange to see his brother with the same glint of desire in the cards that only he normally seemed to have in the family. It made him question if the reason Mokuba had no interest was also because of what he had done. 'Is that my fault, too?' he wondered.

"So, Seto...where did your Mom and Angie go, after dropping you off here?" Tristan asked.

"Home." Kaiba answered. "They wanted to check on that loser back at the house."

As Kaiba said that, there was a pull on his sleeve, followed by a disapproving look from Mokie. Kaiba nodded to silently agree he'd keep his comments on Seto to a minimum...at least for Mokie's sake.

"Hey, Seto...so what did Pegasus want?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba answered, "He wants to be a partner with Seto, regarding the Duel Disk technology."

"Wow...that can be a lot of money." Joey said.

Kaiba nodded. "Except for the fact that the mor-...he doesn't know anything about it." Kaiba's insult was cut short, quickly remembering his agreement with Mokie.

"So, what did you decide?" Tea asked.

"What do you mean 'me'?" Kaiba asked. "It's his business, not mine. He's going to have to make it for himself."

After stating that, he checked his watch, saying, "We gotta get back. I just wanted to get some cards for Mokuba."

"Can we come, too?" Joey asked, anxiously wanting to see the fireworks when Kaiba attempt to explain all this to Seto.

Kaiba shrugged. "He's your friend...go ahead, I don't care."

"All right!" Joey cheered, as Kaiba looked away feeling strangely uncomfortable. His comment basically invited the friendship group to his house, after all...and he wasn't used to not spitting at them and leaving. But, there was more to it than that. Kaiba was nearing the end of having a reason to be here. Once he was back, he could basically leave everything to Seto and move on. And if Aiko didn't show up by then, he'd simply have to call her to take them away. For some reason, he had the urge to have them there as perhaps a silent way of saying good-bye without actually saying it.

...he had a feeling he was really going to miss this world.


	63. C63 The end of the Journey

**C63 The end of the Journey**

Together they left the game shop and walked back over to Seto's house.

Kaiba casually entered the door to see Angie and Seto yelling and fighting over the remote control, while Mokuba was sitting there laughing and eating popcorn, like 'they' were the movie.

"I told you before that Hospital Romance is on at this time and I have to see it!!" Angie whined.

Seto grumbled, "There is no way I'm going to sit down here and watch some queer ass soap opera!!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to use that language in front of my brother?" Kaiba snapped, surprising everyone, as he non-challantly pulled the popcorn bowl out of Mokuba's hands.

"Hey! I was eating that!" Mokuba said.

Kaiba responded, "This crap's bad for you, and you know it. And you're still sick."

"But, I'm hungry...that should count for something!" Mokuba complained.

"It does. Go in the kitchen and find something healthy to snack on." Kaiba retorted.

"Awww!!" Mokuba whined and did as ordered.

"Hey, it's great to see you, guys!" Seto said, giving up the controller to Angie who turned it to her soap opera. Tea immediately b-lined it over there to join her.

"Yeah, we came for the gossip...I mean, we came to say hello!" Joey said.

Seto looked at him strangely, as Yugi took a seat with Mokie to check out his new cards.

Kaiba now approached, shoving the popcorn in his hands. "Pay attention, because there's something important I need to talk to you about."

"Huh?" Seto asked, not expecting Kaiba to even focus on him.

"I had a talk with Pegasus, today." Kaiba said, surprising Seto.

"Pegasus? You kidding me? What did he want?" Seto asked.

"If you shut up for a minute, I'll tell you." Kaiba snapped.

Seto shut up, but scowled at him for being rude to him yet again.

"Pegasus approached me because he wants the technology for the Duel Disk." Kaiba said.

"Uh...why?" Seto asked.

"Why not? It would be beneficial to his business, obviously." Kaiba replied.

"So...what does he want me to do?" Seto asked.

Kaiba showed him the papers. "These are the legal documents that state what he wants, and what you get out of it if you agree. He wants you to give him permission to use the Duel Disk technology for himself, whether it be in his Pegasus Land, his own personal tournament, or anywhere else. For this permission, he is willing to offer you a large sum some, plus royalties."

"Wow, really?" Seto asked. "Well...that sounds good. So, where do I sign?"

Yugi then turned and said, "Hold on, Seto. Don't you understand what that means if you sign?"

"It means...I get money, right?" Seto asked.

Tea then looked over and said, "It means, if Pegasus can use the duel disk, that could hurt Dance-athon."

"It could?" Seto asked. "But, what's that have to do with Dance-athon?"

"Everything." Yugi replied. "The reason Dance-athon is so popular is because of the Duel Disks. If everyone can use it, then what's the point of going to the Dance-athon?"

Seto looked upset over that. "Wow...I never thought of that. That's bad." He looked down. "And after that guy counted on me to run the place, it would be kinda like stabbing him in the back...wouldn't it?"

"And your point?" Kaiba asked.

Seto looked up at him, and said, "The point is, I'm not signing this!"

Kaiba asked, "And, why not?"

"What do you mean, 'why not'?? You just heard the whole thing!" Seto snapped.

Kaiba stated, "You have to see every part of this before you make such a decision. If you agree to sell out to Pegasus, you'll be rich. What happens to John Foley isn't your problem. The first rule of business is never make friends, and this also applies to your situation. You do what you have to, to survive...business is business and there is no room for loyalty."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Seto asked. "How can you make a deal with a guy and be ready to slit his throat the next moment?"

"First of all, I don't think you ever even met the guy, yet. And secondly, when it comes to business...that's what people do. If someone offered your 'good friend' Foley the same deal, I have a feeling he'd take it in a heart beat without thinking about either of us twice. The only reason he acts chummy with us is because I happened to have saved his ass from bankruptcy." Kaiba explained.

"You really are a cold-hearted bastard, you know that?" Seto said. "So, what did you tell him? Did you take it?"

"Didn't I just say you have to make the decision?" Kaiba asked. "I can't be around here forever to hold you hand and tell you what to do. One of these days, you have to make the decision."

"Then my decision is no. I'm not a sell-out." Seto snapped. "I'm not going to hurt Foley."

"Do you think that's going to stop Pegasus?" Kaiba asked. "Its only a matter of time before he figures out how it works. When that happens, he'll change just enough to avoid it being a patent situation, the Dance-athon will still lose it's customers since Pegasus Land will offer the same thing, and because of your stupid loyalty you'll also be without the money given to you. And because you're not me, you'll have no creativity to come up with something else."

"Uh...wait. I might." Seto said.

Suddenly, everyone looked at him like he's an idiot. Angie said, "But, Seto...you've never made anything in your life."

"Hey, if the duel disk was so popular, maybe some other invention can be made to get a lot of money from!" Seto stupidly said.

Yugi sighed. "Seto...you never made anything.

"That doesn't mean I can't do it!" Seto replied.

"Idiot." Kaiba muttered. "You couldn't even put a toaster back together, much less offer any future projects. You have no chance of being anything near the expectations that Pegasus would have towards you."

"But...if you're me, then I should be able to do it too...right?" Seto asked.

"First of all, you're nothing like me. Second of all, you're the one that keeps insisting that you're nothing like me, and third...you never had the education to even comprehend what I do. Even if I gave you step by step blueprints of my invention, you'd still never be able to figure it out."

"You'd do that for Seto?" Angie asked.

"No." Kaiba replied. "He's too stupid to handle it, anyway."

As Seto scowled at him, Angie asked, "Then what can he do?"

Kaiba replied, "My suggestion is to take Pegasus' deal and run with it. Perhaps even use Pegasus to help promote it so it can be sold in stores and game shops...making more money that way. Since it's not officially your product, you might as well milk it for all it's worth."

"Sell it..." Seto said, thinking. "Wait a minute. What if we make a deal with Pegasus to put like a mall around it? You know, it can sell Duel Monster cards and the Duel Disk, plus put a movie theater and maybe a food court around it. Maybe that would keep it alive!"

"Wow, that would be pretty nice if there was like a mall over there." Tea smiled at Seto, liking his idea.

"I think that's a great idea, Seto." Angie agree.

Yugi smiled, saying, "Me, too..."

"Sounds good to me." Joey said.

Kaiba shook his head as basically everyone began to agree with Seto, and pat him on the back. "Enough!" he snapped, shutting everyone up. "You're once again trying so hard to think of how to keep Foley from drowning. But, even out of some miracle if Pegasus 'did' agree to this ridiculous demand, for Pegasus to do all that, he'd have to have ownership for it even to be worth his while. And if Pegasus took it all over, there is no guarantee he'd even bother to keep Foley on, in the first place. Undoubtedly, he'd replace him with someone younger who would fit better with the teenage crowd."

Seto sighed, "So, what you're saying is I really don't have much of a choice. I mean, sure having pride in knowing your part owner of a place would be great. But I guess with Pegasus' offer, even if the Dance-athon stayed in business for years it still wouldn't match up to this would it?"

"If, it stayed in business for approximately 10 years...perhaps." Kaiba said.

"10 YEARS??!"

"But, seeing who's going to be running it, I'm probably giving you far too much credit." Kaiba smirked.

"HEY!"

"So, what are you going to do, Seto?" Angie asked.

Seto sighed, "I think I want to talk to Mom and Dad about this, before I decide."

'Why am I not surprise?' Kaiba thought, hearing Seto once again ready to run to his Mom and Dad before making any decision.

"So, Kaiba..." Seto said, breaking his train of thought. "On another subject, when are you supposed to leave?"

Angie smacked him for the rude question. Kaiba turned away, saying, "I should probably try and contact her, myself. I would have assume she should have tried to contact me, by now."

"Well, it's been nice seeing you." Seto hurried said.

"Wait, don't leave yet!" Angie said, getting up. "Give her some more time to come back on her own. We still need to find out the results of Mom's DNA test, after all. Can't you wait for that?"

Seto was about to disagree, but then Mokie jumped up, saying, "Please, Seto?"

Kaiba glanced at him, then Angie and finally at the horrified look from Seto. He smirked. "I suppose another day wouldn't hurt." causing Seto to mentally curse at the answer.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

By the next day, Seto had talked to his parents and came up with the decision. He gave Pegasus the call to make arrangements on a meeting.

"So, what's your decision?" Kaiba asked.

"We're going to demand that Pegasus help support the Dance-athon with a mall and stipulate that Foley has to be allowed to stay." Seto said.

Kaiba just shook his head. "Before you make demands on Foley's behalf, maybe you should talk it out with him, first."

"Gee...I didn't think of that." Seto said. "I...I've never talked to him before."

"You sound nervous." Kaiba said. "You did say you want to do something yourself. Well, here's your chance, because I'm not doing it."

Seto nodded. "I know...I'll do it." he said, though not sounding very enthusiastic.

Kaiba then called the clinic to find the DNA test result was completed.

Not wanting to risk the results being sent by mail, he went to the clinic with his mother to retrieve them personally.

It wasn't long before he returned. By that time, Seto had once again invited everyone over who were all staring at them when they came in.

"What the hell is everyone doing here again?" Kaiba asked.

Seto grinned. "Well, I told them you guys went to get the test results, so they all came over."

Kaiba groaned. "You know, this 'is' a family matter!"

"Relax, Seto...it's okay." she said to Kaiba, gently touching his shoulder. In fact, once everyone looked over at the mother, they noticed she looked pretty emotional.

"Mom...have you been crying?" Angie asked, only causing more waterworks from her.

Kaiba placed a hand to her shoulder for support, causing Seto to realize he wasn't snapping at him just because he was being his normal anti-social self. He was being protective towards her.

Seto quickly put the result together with his Mom and realize. "Oh. I...I'm sorry, Mom. If I knew it would make you this upset, I would have been against it."

"No...it's okay." she smiled, wiping more tears.

The others looked down. "So...Mokuba's not yours, then." Joey said.

"Actually...he is." she answered giving a half laugh, half sob. "I just can't believe it. All this time, I thought he was dead. Even when Seto came up with the idea that Mokuba's mine, I didn't believe. I couldn't dare hope that..."

The mother broke out crying as Angie now came over to support her.

"Um...this is all very wonderful." Tristan said. "But, how could that be hers?"

"I can't say for certain what might have happened." Kaiba said. "Even hacking into computer systems wont find much from 12 years ago. But, what I do know is that Mokuba was adopted into the Kaiba mansion at birth. And supposedly they adopted him from someone who had a child at the same hospital and coincidentally on the same day. And since we are talking about Gozaburo, I would guess that he did whatever under-handed thing he had to in order to make sure this adoption deal went through...even if it meant stealing someone else's kid in the process."

"Maybe we should call the cops about this!" Seto said.

Kaiba replied, "We have no proof, only theories and coincidence...from 12 years ago. Just be happy we found out, now."

Kaiba then approached the mother, saying, "It's not your fault...you didn't know. But, now you have time to make up for the time lost."

The mother finally calmed down and smiled up at him. "Thank you, Seto...for everything."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was later that day. The mother was making up for lost time by practically smothering Mokie with love. Everyone that saw was almost feeling sorry for the kid.

Seto had left some time ago in the attempt to talk to Foley and make arrangements with Pegasus. During that time, everyone was hoping that Seto could handle it.

Finally, Seto managed to return, not seeming overly thrilled over what happened.

"So, Seto...how did it go?" Tea asked, as she came over and wrapped herself around him for support, making Kaiba flinch and look away in disgust.

"Well...I guess Dance-athon is going to be closed again, after all." Seto said.

"What?" almost everyone else asked, though Kaiba didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Once I explained it to Foley, he decided he'd rather have a large payment himself and get out then struggle to keep a business he felt would eventually fail from Pegasus' business." Seto explained. "So, Pegasus paid us both and we gave him rights to the patent, as well as royalties for anytime he uses the Duel Disk technology, whether for sales or promotion. I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad. I mean...it really wasn't my creation anyway, right? I guess I should thank you Kaiba, for letting me even do that."

"It's not my world." Kaiba replied. "Besides...it's for Mokuba's sake."

"Well, Seto." Tea said. "At least you..."

At that moment, Aiko suddenly appeared. She seemed as surprised to be surrounded by a crowd of people as they were at seeing her. "I am sorry. Am I disturbing anything?"

"I wondered when you were going to show up." Kaiba stated. "I was starting to get bored. So, where the hell have you been?"

"Language, Kaiba." Seto snootily spat at him, trying to get even. Kaiba ignored him.

"Forgive me." she bowed to him. "I have been researching through everything that I have in order to return you, but..."

"So, what's the problem?" Kaiba asked.

Aiko swallowed, "Well...I can get you back without difficulty. I simply have to readjust the settings on the box and it will take you straight home."

"What about Mokuba?" Kaiba automatically asked, not even thinking about himself.

"Well...that is the concern. You see…I didn't send him here. I wasn't even in the same reality when he was sent here." Aiko said.

"So, why can't he just go with me?" Kaiba asked.

"Because the magic that sent him was different from mine." Aiko explained.

"So?" Kaiba asked.

"So...that magic that sent him here is still within him. I fear if he enters that portal, he may not reappear where you do. He could very well end up lost in any world."

Kaiba's eyes widened in concern, as he began to think that perhaps it would be better for them to stay, after all. He only wished he knew that sooner...he would have told Seto to delay that appointment with Pegasus and perhaps keep the deal in becoming a partner.

Yami then approached her. "Are you the one who sent Kaiba here?"

Aiko looked at him and bowed. "Yes, my Pharaoh. But, why do you ask?"

"I was curious." he answered. "You say you didn't send Mokuba. Do you know of how he got here?"

"Truthfully, I don't know much. I only know that it had to do with your puzzle."

"I see." Yami then turned to Mokuba, stating, "Mokuba...I need you to explain in exact detail how you got here."

Mokuba looked over at Kaiba, who nodded his consent. He then gave the explanation on how Yami needed him to touch the puzzle in order for Yami's magic to return the other Kaiba's in their world. He then explained that he was feeling very tired after all that, and that he kept thinking of wanting to see his brother again. "So, the next thing I knew, I was in this world with Seto near me." Mokuba finished saying.

"I see." Yami nodded. "So, the puzzle reacted to your desire and granted your wish to be with your brother, and that is how you ended up here. I believe I may be able to help you."

"You can??" Aiko asked. "That would be wonderful!"

"Aiko...you said you could fix the box to return Kaiba to his world. Correct?" Yami asked.

Aiko replied, "Yes...I can do that with very little difficulty. This device was made to return him eventually, once he found the destination he sought."

"Good." Yami said. He turned to Kaiba, saying, "Kaiba...you will use this device to return to your world. Afterwards, I will use the puzzle to help return Mokuba after you."

"What if it doesn't work?" Kaiba asked.

Yami said in all his arrogance, "Of course it will work."

Kaiba smirked. "The last time you helped, I ended up with someone extra in my world. Let's just be on the safe side." He turned to Aiko, stating, "Once you send me back, you'll stay here to keep track of where he goes and ensure he makes it back safely. If he doesn't, it's going to be your job to retrieve him back. If something goes wrong and you can't bring me to him, you are to bring me back here. If we have to stay here...we will. I will not leave Mokuba behind."

"Wait a minute...you can't stay here!!" Seto exclaimed.

Kaiba glanced over at Seto, saying, "You're just going to have to hope they get it right."

"Are we ready then?" Mokuba asked.

"No!" Angie said. "Let me bring Mom in. No one is leaving until everyone gets a chance to say good-bye!"

Kaiba really didn't like this part. The mother came in and immediately started to cry, hearing that they may leave forever. Seto was still praying that they leave forever, but everyone else was looking all depressed, as if he had died or something. Kaiba really hated good-bye's...he would have preferred to just leave.

The mother was first to give a hug and kiss to a hesitant Mokuba who still wasn't used to parental attention. She then approached Kaiba, starting the waterworks up again, as she hugged him and sobbed on his shoulder. After a slight hesitation, he hugged her back.

She then gave him a peck on the cheek as a final good-bye.

Angie was next to start hugging and saying good-bye to Mokuba, as the mother looked at Aiko, asking, "Is there anyway possible he could ever come back here?"

"WHAT?! No way! I don't want him to ever come back here!" Seto yelled.

Ignoring Seto, Aiko said, "I could always allow him to keep the box, and let him know the exact combination for here and back. I think it's possible."

Mom smiled. "Good. Then perhaps we'll meet again. If you need me, please feel free to return, both of you."

"Why are you telling them this! Mr. Big shot doesn't need anyone!" Seto whined.

For once, Kaiba surprisingly didn't answer that and stayed quiet.

Angie then gave him a hug and kiss, saying, "I'll miss you, other world brother. Don't forget about me."

"If you're anywhere near as annoying as you are in this world...then you probably wont let me." Kaiba smiled.

"Jerk!" she playfully said.

Then to Kaiba's surprise, Joey stepped forward. He gave this fake emotional look and blurted, "I'll miss you, man!!"

Joey then grabbed Kaiba by the head and gave him a big wet one right on the lips. Kaiba was too stunned to say anything. In fact...everyone was pretty much too stunned to say anything.

Right afterwards, Joey collapsed on the floor in laughter. "Ahahaha...oh, man. You had to see the look on your face!"

"That's not funny, Joey!" Angie snapped.

Joey retorted, "Chill out, Ang'...I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"Actually, you're right...that was pretty good." Seto smirked, remembering that mix of shock, confusion, and horror on Kaiba's face...not something he had ever seen before.

"Oh, you liked that?" Joey asked. "Maybe I should give you a nice wet one, too."

"Fuck, no!!" Seto spat.

"Seto! Watch your language!" the mother snapped.

While they were all joking or arguing, Kaiba had turned away still trying to get over the shock of what Joey did. Why did Joey have to remind him of that first world again...and he had almost forgotten by this time.

"_After last night, you're still insisting that you're not interested?"_

He had sworn to Joey that he wasn't, even after getting drunk and sleeping with him. So, why did he seem to like it then...and why did he think he liked what Joey did just a minute ago? The scariest part wasn't what Joey did, but the reaction of what he thought he felt from it.

He snapped himself to the present world, still hearing them senselessly bicker with each other. "Will you all shut up? I'd like to get out of here today!" he snapped, sounding even more irritable than usual.

"I am ready." Aiko said, trying not to smirk at him, after what Joey did. She changed the box and succeeded in sending Kaiba back to his correct world.

"Now it's my turn." Yami said, as Aiko stayed to watch and analyze to ensure he made it safe and sound.

Mokuba approached and touched the puzzle, being directed to do just as he had before. He wished to be with his brother, and once again followed him to whatever world he ended up at.

After they left, Seto just grumbled, "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kaiba groaned and sat up, feeling his head aching. He then saw Mokuba still lying unconscious on the ground.

He immediately checked Mokuba's head, which confirmed that once again the boy was running a higher fever. He then took the boy to his room and put him to bed.

He then laid beside him for a while, as his mind drifted to all the things that had happened to them. 'Normal again.' Kaiba thought. Yet, for moment, he had hoped that Aiko and Yami couldn't succeed. It would have been just the excuse he needed to stay there and take care of two Mokuba's.

For a moment his mind once again began to drift to Joey kissing him and that other world. But, quickly he shook that from his mind, as he told himself, "I better check on work. I can only imagine how far behind I must be, by now."

So, Kaiba once again got back up and went to his office allowing himself to comfortably drown himself back into his work in order to catch up and at the same time help him forget about all those other uncomfortable matters that took place.

As this happened, Aiko had also returned in her world. From outside the mansion, she sensed that they were once again both there, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Yet, for some reason...she was still concerned. She didn't know why, but felt for some reason...something was still amiss. 'But, what could it be?' she thought.

Not being able to notice anything wrong, she could only hope for the best as she left back to her own place.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

That night, Yugi was looking at the sky...daydreaming.

"What are thinking about, Yugi?" Yami asked.

"Do you think Kaiba, Mokuba, and that Seto guy are all right?"

"I don't know how exactly...but somehow, I can sense that they are all where they're suppose to be, and are all right."

Yugi yawned. "That's good to hear. Well...goodnight, Yami."

Yami smiled, "Good night, Yugi. Sweet dreams." He then disappeared, returning to his soul room.

But, what they both failed to notice was the faint glow that had been around the puzzle since Mokuba had been pulled into Seto's world, was now brighter...until it shot a beam into the sky before vanishing.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Back at Kaiba's mansion...the beam had hit and spread a bright aura throughout a room flooding it with light. Then as it vanished, it left in its wake a huddled body of a man. But, who could it be?

The End 

Mokuba A/N: Yes, you read right. That's The End! So if you wish to guess on the mystery person have fun. I am unsure when we or if we'll be able to do SW3 at the moment, sorry. Clarity has a museum now, more details in her profile. So I can't say when 3 when or if it will be done or any of the minor sequels. (Though by request I can post the mini-sequals I wrote alone on my website if anyones interested) Till then read Clarity's other stories, or I have 2 other usernames, Shaylo Gatomon (Yugioh story Royalty) and Mew Mokuba (a Gravitation story)


End file.
